


Hide and Seek

by Mischief_With_Sandra



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Gen, before we knew Clint had a family, hopefully no one is too OOC here, non-canon compliant, nothing posts The Avengers happens, post The Avengers, read the disclaimer at the bottom of the chapter, tried to write in character as best possible
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-05-15
Packaged: 2020-03-05 15:36:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18831565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mischief_With_Sandra/pseuds/Mischief_With_Sandra
Summary: Darcy doesn't know whether this is a good thing or a bad thing that Loki is here before her....Going by her day, it's probably a bad thing. Go figure.Set immediately post Avengers (2012)





	1. Chapter 1

**OOOOO**

**OOOOO**

 

It took 2 months after Loki decided to go bat-shit crazy in New York before Darcy got her iPod back. And the only reason she got it back was because she threatened her new boss, Agent Coulson, that she would tell the entire Avengers team about the dream he had involving a certain female SHIELD agent and  _jello_.

Yeah. She was badass like that.

Being Phil Coulson's assistant definitely had its perks. One of them being possibly over-hearing super cool, way above her fucking pay-grade, classified shit. She may or may not have heard about a classified mission in Budapest involving two of her favorite Avengers. Even so, Darcy knows better, Coulson is scary efficient, and she figures she's not that stealthy; so he lets her pretend to overhear just enough to make her feel more part of the team. Because let's face it, her boss is a fucking ninja. Darcy knew the truth, especially after everything that went down on the Hellicarrier with Loki. She's still pissed at Thor's wayward brother for pulling that stunt.  _Fucker._  But her boss healed like a champ in no time and was back at work before anyone knew the wiser. The look on Tony Stark's face when he returned to duty was priceless. She totally caught a picture of that and posted it up on Facebook. ' _Hey, it's not every day you catch Tony Stark off guard.'_  Darcy also remembers her boss giving Tony the,  _'You hug me, and I will make sure you don't see Pepper for weeks'_  look when he was attempting to make that motion at him.

So now that things have started to quiet down a bit, Darcy has settled into life at Stark Tower, which is currently being used as a makeshift Avengers workspace and residence. God knows Tony has more than enough room to spare. Darcy's main objective as Agent Coulson's assistant is to make sure everyone stays pretty even keel and in the know about upcoming and potential threats. All in all, it's a pretty badass gig. She can't complain. She misses working with Jane, but she doesn't miss the science involved. Sure, it's interesting enough, but there's no way in hell her brain can wrap itself around all the astronomy calculations and theory. Figuring out differential equations? Uh, that is a large resounding, No. Playing mediator between Captain America and Tony Stark? Score 1 for Darcy, she's  _all_  over that.

And it's not like she doesn't see Jane anymore. She sees a lot of her actually. Jane and Erik have been working in one of Stark's labs to contain and harness the power of the Tesseract so Thor can drag Loki back to Asgard for punishment. They're in the process of building some contraption that will hold the electric blue cube, and then from what she's told some magical intervention is required. She started tuning out as soon as Tony stopped speaking in a way she can no longer comprehend, and Jane and Erik launched into a conversation where Darcy swears, the vocabulary is not of the English language. In the meantime, Loki is being held in another containment unit located on property somewhere. She hasn't exactly met Loki, and she's not really sure she wants to after seeing and hearing about everything he's done. The repeated television footage alone gets her more than a bit edgy. Thor tells her that Loki has seemed to come to his senses, but he can't read into his brother's troubled mind after everything that has gone down between the two of them. Darcy really does feel bad for Thor. He looks like some lost puppy dog trying to find his way back home. At least Jane is there for him to lift his spirits. And oh, God – don't even get her started on  _that_  happy reunion. Darcy can only take so much lovey-dovey crap.

Bless her iPod. It has saved her on more than one occasion from Thor and Jane's 'romantic adventures'. The power of Apple. Honestly, she should write them a thank you letter.

Her residence is located on the same floor as the rest of the Avengers. She just happens to be on the opposite end of the floor, which is totally okay in her mind. She can only take so much superhero hyperactivity in one day. And Tony is an entity all on his own.

Finishing her day and making her way into her place of peace, her sanctuary, she enters her small, yet spacious living space with the full intention of taking a nice hot shower, and then proceed to cuddle up on her couch and catch up on some trashy reality television. Hanging up her keys near the entrance and flipping up her light switch, Darcy walks into her main living area where her laptop is located. She plans to let it boot up while she showers and run through it's normal daily processes and security checks. She halts mid-stride when she notices she's not alone in her apartment.

Standing in the middle of her room is none other than Loki. Confusion and shock hit Darcy's system like a brick wall, and then panic starts to take over as she stills from seeing the God of Mischief in her living space. A million questions run through Darcy's mind as she's looking over Loki. He's just standing there smirking at her, but there is something far more sinister in his features. And why did no one ever tell her how utterly delicious he looks? Do all Aesir look this smoking hot? Shaking her head with thoughts that she should not be focusing on, Darcy starts to regain the feeling in her limbs as she cautiously moves towards to the farthest space in the apartment away from Loki. She wants to say something to him, anything, but all she can do is open and close her mouth like a freaking blowfish as she's still unsure of how or why he's in here.

She honestly doesn't know whether this is a good thing or bad thing that Loki is here before her. His head is cocked and his eyes are travelling the length of her form, taking what seems an almost agonizing period of time. She shudders at the gaze he has placed upon her, so focused with intent, and there is definitely a wicked gleam in his eye. After several moments of assessing her, Loki stands to his full height nodding to himself as if making a silent confirmation. Darcy doesn't have time to think about much more as a mischievous smile crosses his features and he takes action.

"Well, then. I think it's time you and I become better acquainted." Loki speaks quietly to her, all the while his smirk growing more and more pronounced with each passing word through his lips.

Her eyes widening and eyebrows rising up to her hairline, Darcy can only stare back at him. And then all of a sudden Loki moves, with lightning fast reflexes and a grace that would put any athlete to shame, he lunges for Darcy.

"Shit."

These were the first and last words Darcy spoke before blackness had taken over her vision and thoughts started drifting away.

Yup. This was most definitely a bad thing.

**OOOOO**

**OOOOO**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ** Disclaimer ** 
> 
> Written in 2012. This story is incomplete and will probably not be finished; so please read at your own risk! But if you do, I hope you enjoy the little journey and development this has taken. It was my first attempt at writing Darcy and Loki. My two favorites. I apologize in advance if the writing is garbage....I generally don't write very much, but I was inspired and felt brave enough to share because of so many amazing Loki/Darcy authors out there in the world.


	2. Chapter 2

**OOOOO**

**OOOOO**

Darcy had always heard the saying, 'nerve endings on fire', but was unable to ever relate or understand the true meaning of that phrase until now. Her body is humming with what she can only describe as a pulsating electrical current, except there's no pain; there is just a constant low hum of energy flowing through her body, setting off a series of pin prickle sensations. It's absolutely consuming, almost a serene sensation if not for the part where she doesn't know which way is up. That's a downer. Diligently trying to focus on something, Darcy starts to access her situation. Eyes still closed, trying to get a handle on the energy coursing through her body, Darcy can feel that she's lying down on her left side, resting on a soft, cushiony surface. Testing the waters, she attempts to stretch her legs out a bit, hearing the rustle of what sounds like the shifting of sheets and reaching her right arm above her head while rolling to her right, Darcy can feel the tale tell signs of a pillow. Lying fully on her back now, she ever so slowly opens one eye and then the other; blinking in rapid succession, the first thing running through Darcy's mind is,  _'Oh thank God, I can see._ ' Next, Darcy takes into account that she is in fact lying on a bed, the room she's in is lit in a golden light, which appears to be coming from a lamp of some sort to her left. Still staring at the ceiling above her, Darcy takes notice that above her is not your normal, garden variety ceiling; in fact, upon closer inspection, she sees a white popcorn ceiling, but there are glow in the dark stars littered around in random places. Drawing in a deep breathe through her nose, Darcy furrows her brow and contemplates what she's staring at.  _'Huh, that's funny, if I didn't know any better, I'd swear that's – '_

"Ah. She lives."

Startled by the foreign voice, Darcy lets out a short yelp and bolts upright in bed, only to grab her head and lean onto one side to fight the feeling of vertigo upsetting her equilibrium. Groaning, Darcy lifts her head up enough to glare in the direction of the other person in the room, which she can now see is Loki, looking terribly bored while resting up against her dresser, staring at her as if she was the biggest inconvenience; his arms are crossed in front of his chest, Darcy can see he's wearing the same clothing as when he went on his rampage only minus the massive leather trench coat. Wait. Her dresser? Chancing the movement, Darcy takes in her surroundings now and realizes that they're in her old apartment; the one she lived in right before SHIELD practically forced her to move into Stark Tower when she began her new official position working for Agent Coulson.

Turning to her right to look out her window, she notices there's still daylight left, so she couldn't have been unconscious very long.

"If this is the way, you introduce yourself to people; you seriously need some lessons in etiquette. Didn't they give you some sort of handbook in Asgard? Manners 101," agitatedly responding to Loki, Darcy shoots daggers at him while sitting upright and swinging her legs over the side of her bed. "I mean both you  _and_  Thor have just made fantastic first impressions upon me." Sarcasm laced in her voice and waving a hand in a sporadic motion towards Loki, Darcy recalls the time Thor first landed, and she had to taser him he freaked her out so much. Her hand is really itching for her trusty weapon right about now. Not that this would help her current predicament, as her brain is finally playing catch up to everything that's happened in the past couple hours and is coming back to her in full force.

"Silence. I did not bring you here so I may listen to you drivel on about formal greeting habits. There is much to be discussed." Speaking to Darcy as if she were a petulant child, Loki pushes himself off the dresser to stand directly in front of her.

"Oh, so you wanted to talk? No,  _'Hi, I'm Loki – Thor's brother, what a pleasure to meet you. Would you like to have a little chat and discuss the weather?'_  I didn't get that impression from you at  _all_. Especially from the kidnapping stand point," speaking to Loki in a higher pitched range, Darcy moves to stand up from the bed and steps into his personal space as she rambles on to him. Still feeling somewhat off kilter, Darcy has let her mouth do all the talking and prevented her brain from formulating a proper response without realizing the consequence of her actions. As soon as the last words were out of her mouth, Darcy found herself pinned against the wall next to her dresser, a hand on her shoulder while another next to her face on the wall; Loki is only a breathe away from her as all space between them has nearly evaporated.

"Do not, presume to understand my actions or anything about me, mortal. I have my reasons for bringing you here, and you will do well to remember I could end you with the flick of my wrist. So I would curb your self-righteous attitude and hear me out before assuming you know anything about why you are here." Responding fiercely to her at the level of a soft whisper, Loki stares at Darcy with deadly menace that truly has her frightened for the first time she's been in his presence.

Effectively silenced and scared for her very existence, Darcy, on instinct, tries to sink further back into a wall, which she very well knows isn't going to give her anymore room to separate the two of them. The lack of space between them has not gone unnoticed, and while Darcy may have been able to appreciate being trapped against the wall with a gorgeous looking god, this was not one of those moments. In fact, it was about as far from that moment as you could get. But lord almighty, were his eyes a bright glow of emerald green in the light. They were mesmerizing.

"Yo-you have my attention." Speaking just as softly as Loki, without anything but seriousness, Darcy can only gaze back at him waiting to see what his next move is.

**OOOOO**

**OOOOO**

"Dr. Selvig, could you come up and take a look at this read out and tell me what your opinion is?" Tony Stark motions to Erik as he speaks to him through a video conference line located in the main R&D lab at Stark Tower.

"Of course, Jane and I were just finishing up analyzing and tweaking the current blueprints for the new containment field that we will transfer the tesseract to. Would you like me to bring those up as well?" Erik says flustered into his video monitor downstairs on the 36th floor where he is scrambling to collect a variety of papers covering the desk he's occupying.

"No doctor, just bring yourself and that brain of yours so I can continue to pick at it." Snapping his fingers together in a singular motion and covering his hand, Tony directs Selvig to which part of the main R&D floor he'll be at before abruptly shutting off the line, not waiting for his reply.

Sitting down at his lab table, Tony is filtering through read out after read out of energy signatures of the tesseract. Building the unit itself to transport Thor and Loki back to Asgard isn't what concerns him. It's managing to find a way to match the signature of the tesseract to the natural energy that inhabits both Thor and Loki, and then direct that energy; so when activated, it will send them both to the destination of their origin, being Asgard. "JARVIS, run another diagnostic on the cube at 4, 6, and 8 hour intervals over the next week, and then send me daily fluctuation reports."

"Certainly, sir. Would you also like me to forward these reports to Dr. Selvig, Foster and Agent Coulson?" The disembodied British voice confirming Tony's request.

"Uh, yes to the first two, and no to Phil. I want to keep this pretty close to home until we have some definitive answers. The less we see of SHIELD up here the better, no offense to Phil, but I still don't trust them." Responding back to his AI, Tony scratches the back of his head while contemplating his next step. While conversing with JARVIS, Tony failed to notice Steve Rogers had stepped into the lab area.

"You know those aren't our orders." Steve says as he makes his way over to Tony's lab station.

"' _Captain Red, White and Blue'_ , to what do I owe this illustrious visit of yours?" The snark in Tony's voice is palpable as he continues to focus on his work without a glance to Captain Rogers.

"Tony, you know all information pertaining to the cube has to go directly to SHIELD." Slightly exasperated, Steve knows this is Tony's MO. He understands his reservations with SHIELD. He has them himself, but orders are orders, and he really wants to avoid a lashing from Fury at all costs.

"And I'm telling you, until there is pertinent information that is sound and worthwhile; I'm not sending them jack shit. Listen, I'll compromise with you. I'm having JARVIS run some tests on our baby. As soon as I complete the testing and analyze the results, I will send the information over to SHIELD, but not a minute before then. You of all people know this is not something to be shared around." Talking in a seriousness that Steve hasn't seen in Tony very often, he takes a slight step back making sure he meant what he just said.

"Alright, Stark. I'll keep quiet about this for now, but I want to see results, I'm not –"

"Hey, have you guys seen Darcy recently?" Interrupting Captain Rogers, Clint Barton questions Tony and Steve in a clipped tone as he briskly walks into the lab with Natasha hot on his heels.

"No. And whoa guys, where's the fire at?" Tony sounds off, as he looks to Barton, holding up his hands in a placating manner.

"Darcy was supposed to meet us downstairs in the lobby so we could go out for drinks, but she never showed." Clint's hurried voice can be felt in the room; it's obvious he's clearly concerned that this isn't normal Darcy behavior.

"It's not like Darcy to be late for our weekly meet-up, and she's not answering her phone. She always answers her phone. If there's one thing I've taught her while working at SHIELD, it's always stay in contact with us." Natasha says, explaining the situation to Steve and Tony.

"Well, okay. Did she happen to mention that she would be working late or possibly Agent Coulson sent her on a last minute errand? I know she's pretty dedicated to her job and keeping us informed about -." Stating the obvious, Steve attempts to try and help everyone by calming the room and backtracking from the beginning, but before he can finish Tony cuts him off.

"Hold on." Tony starts, dropping what he's doing. "JARVIS, could you please tell me if Miss Lewis is currently in the building?" Tony quickly asks his AI, his tone matter of fact.

"Sir. I cannot locate Miss Lewis anywhere on the premises, and it appears her cell phone is currently emitting signals from her room located on the residence floor where she stays." After several moments of pause, JARVIS replies efficiently back to the them.

The entire group looks to each other clearly baffled at this point and with an ever growing concern as the pieces of a one missing Darcy Lewis start to form. Tony walks over to another workstation in the lab pulling up various displays that look to be security footage. Steve, Natasha and Clint move closer to where Tony is to get a better look at what he's doing.

"Sir. I have Agent Coulson on the video conference line." Stating with what could almost be described as a computer generated sigh; JARVIS relays the information to Tony. "It appears to be urgent."

"Keep looking through those files. I'll talk to Agent Coulson." Muttering to Tony to continue, Steve wanders over the video monitor and clicks it on.

Agent Coulson is clearly surprised, or as surprised as Agent Coulson can get, to see Captain America answering, but schools his features into a grim expression. "We have a problem." He states.

"Tony's a little busy at the moment, can I help you? And have you seen Darcy within the past couple of hours? No one seems to be able to locate her." Speaking straight and direct, Captain Rogers wastes no time getting right to the point.

Agent Coulson's brow furrows as he digests this recent piece of information given to him, and opens his mouth to respond, but then hears Tony through the video feed.

"Hey – I may have found something." Tony shouts and turns towards Rogers as Barton and Natasha are now hovering almost on top on him. But everything comes to a standstill as Agent Coulson's next words leave his mouth.

"Captain Rogers, Loki has escaped." Phil says with a new found urgency in his voice.

The four occupants in the room all turn to stare at each other in earnest, all putting the pieces together with the bomb that Agent Coulson has just dropped on them.

Without a second of hesitation, Steve knows exactly what needs to happen next. Looking back to the screen and then to Tony, Clint and Natasha, he utters the word he was hoping he wouldn't have to, but now knows is absolutely imperative before another moment is lost.

"Assemble."

**OOOOO**

**OOOOO**


	3. Chapter 3

**OOOOO**

**OOOOO**

"How the hell did this happen Stark?" Fury is barking at the Avengers, who have all gathered in Stark Tower; Dr. Banner arrived just as Fury had started firing off questions left and right with Agent Coulson in tow. Jane had already left the lower lab, as Erik was on his way up to see Tony; she was with Thor when he received the call from JARVIS to immediately come upstairs for an urgent matter regarding his brother and Miss Lewis, so Jane insisted on following Thor if Darcy was somehow involved. Between the news that Darcy is missing and Loki's escape, it doesn't take a scientist long to put two and two together. There was no way that Darcy's mysterious disappearance was a coincidence during the same period of time where Loki turned up missing from his cell. Everyone is on edge and frantically looking for answers.

"I don't know!" Tony throws back at him. Slamming his hands down in frustration on the table in front of him, he's more than upset that Loki has found a loophole in the bracelet he's wearing, which is dampening his energy field; his magic should have been rendered useless. He engineered the technology for Christ's sake! Rubbing a hand over his face, Tony also bears the burden of feeling that this is his fault. Loki escaped under  _his_  watch,  _his_  roof, and now Darcy is paying for that.

"Do not blame yourself friend Stark, if there is anyone to lay blame, I should be the one at fault. Loki is my responsibility and I swear to you, I will not rest until he is found and Lady Darcy is back safely." Thor pipes in, trying to diffuse the tension in the room. "My brother may be freed of his containment, but I must ask, how can we know for certain that Darcy has been taken by him?" As impatient as Thor is, his concern for his friend overrides his initial instinct to fly off and scour the city looking for Loki. Looking to Jane, he takes her hand and squeezes it lightly in reassurance. He wants to discern as much information as possible on the whereabouts of his brother and the connection of how Darcy may fit into all this. He also wants to believe that deep down there is still hope left to save his brother. After the battle in New York, Loki had calmed down after a couple of weeks of solitude, partially in defeat, the other in recognition; he knew it was a fruitless perusal to take over Midgard, witnessing with Thor atop Stark Tower how the Chitauri showed no mercy for the destruction they laid in their wake. But he was powerless to stop what he had started; he admitted to Thor there was no turning back for him at that point. It was all or nothing and he wanted it all. He wanted to show them  _he_  was worthy of ruling, and Midgard would have been the perfect example of his capable rule. Later on, as difficult as it was for him admitting the hard truth, Loki knew what he said to Thor to be a lie, even as bitter and angry he is at his family for betraying him. After all they've been through together, Thor let himself start believe that  _maybe_ , the brother he once knew, for all those centuries, is still there, buried beneath all his pain and anger.

"Here." Tony swivels a monitor in Thor's direction and points to the screen as he pulls up security footage that follows Darcy on the residence floor heading to her room a short time after she had finished up her work from earlier in the day. As everyone watches the screen anxiously, it suddenly flips and shows the main living area of her apartment where Darcy is shown entering her apartment, she places her keys up and starts walking into the den, where you can see her halt once Loki comes into view. Darcy starts moving towards the far side of the living area where the two are now seen standing on opposite ends from each other. The video appears to show Loki making a shaking motion with his head, and it seems he may have said something to Darcy, but quicker than the camera can catch, Loki has flashed over to Darcy, grabbing her swiftly by her upper arm and both disappearing in a flash of light bright enough to blind the security feed, killing it instantly.

The silence in the lab is deafening.

"God damn him," yells Barton, breaking the silence from the back of the room, he kicks a trash can across the room in a fit of anger. "That bastard!" Pulling at his hair with both hands, Clint spins around and squeezes his arms together above his head. Of all the people standing in the room, Clint is by far the closest with Darcy. Their unusual friendship began one day when Darcy had been instructed to brief Agent Romanov and himself on a local gang starting to show indications that their organization may be directly connected with HYDRA. The gang had been keeping a low profile for some time, but recently started collecting data from various chemical labs in the area. Data that has been linked to several weapon raids overseas. It was a pretty straight forward and short conference, but the way Darcy left the meeting made a lasting impression on him. Darcy had been lucky enough to catch both agents down at the temporary target range Stark built for them. He transformed an entire floor into an Avengers 'mini training facility' while the Helicarrier continues to undergo repairs. Darcy had just finished briefing both agents, and Clint had walked away to continue his practice session. Clint's idea of a miss is different to everybody else's concept of 'missing a target.' He can calculate down to three-tenths of an inch if he was off his mark. Darcy had collected her notes and started walking away when she heard a string of curses coming from the marksman, curiosity getting the best of her; she turned around so she could catch a glimpse of what was upsetting the archer. She waited, observing from afar his bow technique, and after another illicit, frustrated groan left Barton's mouth, Darcy strolled up to Clint, placing a hand on the arm getting ready to release his next arrow and promptly pushes one pointed index finger down on the top of his elbow, lowering his arm where it's level with his target line. Clint looked to Darcy, his arm and back to Darcy again, after an insurmountable amount of time passes, Clint focused back on his target, fired and hit the intended mark to his standards. Lowering his bow and turning to face Darcy, his face contorts in a flabbergasted manner, searching her face as if trying to solve a complicated puzzle. Darcy simple stared back with an award winning smile, winked and promptly walked out the door without a backwards glance. At least, that's how Natasha claims the interaction went. There were only two thoughts going through Clint's mind at that time,  _'What the hell just happened?'_  and ' _I need to find out who that girl is.'_  Natasha explained to Clint that she was working as Coulson's new assistant while he was on light duty, returning from his near death experience. Once Phil had been cleared for full duty again, Darcy figured she was to be released, as it turns out, she was so efficient at her job while Phil was recovering, Agent Coulson told her that she was to stay, permanently. He felt she had connected with the team and had a  _'flow'_ , so he shrugged and said,  _'Why mess with a good thing?'_  After hearing the news, Natasha arranged for everyone to go out and celebrate. In turn, Clint and Darcy hit it off surprisingly well that night, after the strange incident at the practice range. The celebration was so much fun and relaxing for the group, Darcy suggested they continue meeting up more often. That's how Natasha, Clint and Darcy spend each Thursday night, just hanging out, finding a semblance of normalcy in some small part of their hectic lives. Darcy always looked forward to their Thursday outings more than anyone; it was endearing how excited she got over something so mundane. Her sarcastic attitude and passion towards life really drew Clint in, he'd be an idiot not to fall heads over heels for her, but Clint never felt it was the right time to say anything to Darcy about wanting anything more than friendship between them. He's starting to regret not saying anything right about now…

"Agent Barton, get ahold of yourself." Fury immediately remarks. "This is no time to throw a temper tantrum. We know you have your own personal issues with Loki, and we all care for the well-being of Miss Lewis, but I need you to buckle up and get your head on right. Do we have an understanding?" Glaring at the marksman with his one good eye and head cocked, Fury makes his statement extremely clear to Barton.  _'You lose your shit over this, and I will ship you off to the Antarctic.'_

Natasha moves swiftly over to Clint, placing her hands on his arms and lowering them to his sides, making eye contact with him, an unspoken conversation taking place between the two master assassins.

"Yes, sir." Barton replies tightly in affirmation to Director Fury, moving to stand beside Natasha, arms crossing his chest awaiting orders on where to go next.

"Okay, so we know that Loki has Darcy, but what does he want with her?" Captain America speaks up getting everyone back on track of their mission.

"Well, that could be any number of things. We know Loki's mind isn't running on all cylinders, no offense Thor….but I think all 'why's aside, we need to figure out how we're going to find her. If Loki has the ability to teleport, he could have potentially taken Darcy anywhere," Bruce contributes to the group, bringing some logic to the discussion and important facts that need answering regarding Darcy's safety.

"I am inclined to agree with Dr. Banner on this." Agent Coulson says, joining the conversation and pointing towards Bruce.

"Alright. Even if Loki has managed to use some of his magic, it's highly unlikely he has a full amount of it available for use. I know that bracelet works; I wouldn't have placed it on him, if I didn't know it would function like it's supposed to. Since we've seen he has the capability to teleport, in theory, that would expound a great deal of energy out of the bracelet; therefore, he wouldn't be able to cross great distances…," trailing off, Tony moves the monitor back to face him and goes to work on a hunch he has to track Loki. Bruce picking up on Tony's train of thought joins him at the table bringing up the schematics for Loki's energy inhibiting bracelet.

"Meaning, he could still be traceable within the confines of the city." Steve finishes for Tony.

"Give the Captain a prize folks, he can be taught!" Tony exclaims while pointing at him, never looking up from his position over the lab station, you can literally see the wheels turning in Tony's genius head.

"Alright, we've got a place to start," Fury nods in assent. "Jane, Erik – I know I don't have to ask, if you believe you can be of any service to Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner, by all means jump right in. We welcome all the help we can get tracking down Loki. Thor, Captain, Agents Romanov and Barton hit the ground running and start searching the city. I want updates every 30 minutes." Having given his direction to the rest of the team, Fury moves to leave with Agent Coulson alongside him.

"Thor. I want your brother back in one piece and unharmed as much as you do, but…I want my assistant back more." Phil says stopping before getting out the door completely, one hand on the wall, with a pointed blank look, making no mistake that his underlining threat was clear as bells.

Thor turns to the 'Son of Coul' and gives an infinitesimal shake of his head in confirmation that he understands the meaning behind his words.

"Wheels up, let's move – time's wasting away." Natasha bites out, striding towards the exit to start gathering her gear and begin the search for any visible signs of Loki or Darcy.

Tony, Bruce, Jane and Erik remain behind, as Clint, Steve, and Thor motion to follow Natasha out, they all have their game plan ready to put into action.

"Thor." Jane calls out to him. She hurriedly moves to stop him before he can follow the others out the door. "Be careful. And please bring yourself and Darcy back in one piece. She's been so much more than just a friend to me after all this time, sticking with me even at my very worst…She's family Thor..," voicing her thoughts in a hushed manner, Jane reaches up and kisses Thor goodbye, wishing him well.

"You have my word Jane; I will bring Darcy back alive and safe. She has been a good friend to me as well." Taking Jane's small hands in his large ones, he kisses both her palms before swiftly exiting the lab.

**OOOOO**

**OOOOO**

Darcy is stuck between a god and a hard place. She's still trapped against the wall Loki currently has pinned her to, it seems he has no intention of releasing her anytime soon and would like to play a game of 'the staring contest' instead.

"Dude. As much fun as this little game of yours is, could you please stop staring at me, it's unnerving. You win, okay!" Darcy mutters to Loki, lowering her eyes away from him and shifting her head to the right, Darcy forces herself not to make any quick movements; she'd like to keep all of her extremities, thank you very much!

"Oh, my apologies, am I making you uncomfortable?" Loki asks Darcy, amusement filling his voice as he trails his eyes over Darcy's face moving even further into her personal space, his lips now reach the shell of her ear as he speaks, not sorry at all for causing her discomfort.

"You mentioned you had a reason for bringing me here. I'm listening; I'll hear you out! Just please give me some space to breath already, I'm about to fall over as it is." Darcy fights the crude retort wanting to fall from her lips, but maybe if she plays along long enough, she may actually live to tell the tale of her survival, and Darcy is all about living to see another day. Loki finally seems to hear her plea, and releases her from his hold stepping away as if realizing just how close their proximity was. "Gah!" Darcy calls out, stepping forward only to lose her balance when a wave of black spots dance across her eyes, caused from the energy coursing through her body. Rolling his eyes, Loki senses her impending fall grabbing her left arm and moves to sit her on the bed, taking a seat next to her. Darcy peers up at Loki to see his face scrunch up in a mixture of confusion, frustration and something else that could possibly be described as concern. Odd.

"Look, before you explain to me why we're here in my apartment, could you please tell me why the hell my body feels like a huge electrical conductor right now? It's sending my body on sensory overload." Darcy says as she straightens her glasses and shifts so that her right leg is bent resting on the bed, and her other leg is left dangling off the edge, moving her body to face Loki. A look of realization dawns on Loki's features as he understands why Darcy's body is physically responding the way it has.

"That would be my fault." Loki has the audacity to look sheepish in answering Darcy's request. "I've never attempted teleporting a mortal anywhere, so it would be natural that during the process, moving you from one place to another would leave an effect on you. Though, an interesting side effect I must say, your body has absorbed some of my magical energy during our short trip, which is why your body is reacting as it is. It will dissipate eventually and most likely won't affect you physically after today, but you may continue to feel a slight hum of my energy signature until it fades." Sweeping his hand in front of Darcy, Loki produces a small green wave of energy radiating out from his palm, grabbing her hand with his empty one, Loki gently places her palm face down, hovering several inches above the magic floating in his hand. "Does it feel something like this?" Letting the tendrils of the magic spark up lightly, they touch the base of Darcy's hand, he flicks his eyes over to Darcy, gauging her reaction.

All Darcy can do is nod back at Loki, her hand receiving that pin prickle sensation again each time a tendril touches her. She can feel the vibration of the energy flow through her body and outward from where her hand is. "Wow." A small whisper floats out of her mouth; the hint of a smile appears as her lips quirk up at one end, an expression of awe flitting across her face.

"Thank you." A shy, genuine smile graces Loki's face, and an unfamiliar feeling of appreciation rushes through his body at Darcy's appraisal of his magical capabilities. Ever so slowly, Loki allows the wave of magic to shrink down to the point of its disappearance, all while moving his hand closer to Darcy's suspended palm. "I am Loki; it is truly a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Sincere, soft spoken words are heard from him, closing the distance between their palms, Loki takes Darcy's hand and brings it to his lips, placing a kiss on top of her knuckles.

"Darcy, uh, I'm Darcy, and ditto," she responds flustered, with a smile of her own. From what she witnessed in front of her, and Loki's apparent mood swing, Darcy has no idea how to process what just happened, except she thinks this may have been the worst and best meeting all at once. "See? Was that so hard? You didn't have to nab me in the middle of the day to do this you know..," pulling away from his grasp, she folds her hands into her lap. Confidence returning to her, Darcy is starting to think that Loki really doesn't have ill intentions toward her.

"Yes, well…I highly suspect a request to see you would not have been allowed without guard dogs, and an interrogation wasting countless hours, and I don't have time for that. I needed to bring you to a place where we could be alone without the threat of being disturbed." Guffawing slightly as he speaks, Loki runs a hand through his recently shorten hair.

"Yeah, alright, I'll give you that, but B.T.W., how did you even know where to find me, or know about me at all? And how did you get out? I mean, I thought that bracelet of yours prevented you from using magic?" Darcy utters, pointing to a small, black, unmarked bracelet, fitted snugly around his wrist; there are a series of red lights circulating across the rim of it. Darcy assumes that means it's supposed to be online and functioning.  _'Tony is going to be SO pissed when he finds out his newest toy doesn't work….too bad I can't get his reaction, I'd love to see his face when that happens. New Facebook profile pic…'_

Throwing a hand up in the air, Loki halts her rapid fire questioning with a look of,  _'Please. God of Mischief here.'_  "I've been following you for some time Miss Lewis. I admit I was intrigued when I saw that you were taking over some of the duties carried out by that agent –"

"His name is Phil Coulson, and he is kick ass. I am still totally pissed at you for what you did to him." Interrupting Loki, Darcy forcefully tells him how she feels about that particular incident, not afraid of how he may react this time.

"Yes. That was….an unfortunate incident." Loki replies, allowing himself to feel somewhat guilty over his actions, however, he raises an eyebrow alluding that he did not appreciate the disruption of his previous explanation. Staring at Darcy in contemplation, he decides to continue once he assumes she's not going to interrupt him again. "The contraption that the Man of Iron created does work…but only to a certain degree." Loki begrudgingly admits, absently rubbing part of his wrist where the bracelet is clipped on. "I have use of my magic, but the capabilities are limited within the confines of my body, meaning I cannot use magic outwardly on others, but I still have enough energy to manifest clothing, teleport over short distances, or duplicate and cloak myself, which is how I have been watching you."

"But how were you able to teleport me if you can't use your magic on others? Or that greenish glob of energy you just showed me?" Darcy says, moving a hand in wave-like motion while her other dangles above it mimicking when Loki had placed her hand above his.

For moment, Loki lets himself have a good laugh at Darcy's expense. Grabbing his sides, Loki gives a flat out, belly aching laugh. "I'm sorry..well no, I'm not, but the hand motion you just made in attempt to duplicate the action of my magic….," erupting into another fit of chuckles, Loki tries to calm himself enough to continue.

"Here for your amusement, O' God of Mischief." Darcy sarcastically remarks, though she's grinning from ear to ear upon seeing the menacing god dissolve into abrupt laughter. It's kind of awesome, actually.

"By touching you, you become in a sense, an extension of me while performing magic, such as teleportation. And I can manifest small amounts of my magical energy through the inhibiting device of this bracelet, but nothing that can cause damage to anyone, it's not powerful enough, which is why in my spare time I've been sending out cloaked doubles to keep myself from growing bored out of my mind." Loki's voice still tinged with mirth.

"So, you've essentially been stalking me at work for the past couple of months? Dude, don't take this the wrong way, but that's creepy." Glaring as she speaks, Darcy puts together from his explanation that he's been sending his doubles to keep an eye on her.  _'But why has he been watching me, and what information has he been gathering all this time?'_ Sobering thoughts bring Darcy back to reality that Loki is still a potential threat, even if he has changed his mind about plans for world domination. There's no telling what he's been doing this entire time with his limited magic, and it surprises her JARVIS hasn't been able to pick up on it….but then again, new rules apply when it comes to gods and science is just trying to play catch up.

"Do not flatter yourself, you were not the only one I chose to follow; though the most sensible choice for requiring assistance in the information I wish to relay to the Avengers. An unbiased opinion, if you will." Loki says stiffly, erasing all amusement from his features, he notices her posture change and demeanor has taken on a more intense expression.

"And what is that exactly?" Clearing her throat, Darcy straightens up, her focus solely on Loki, hoping to get the reason why she has been taken away from Stark Tower and her friends. The sooner she gets real answers, the sooner she can get back,  _hopefully_.

"There is a threat to your planet." Loki states.

This has Darcy's attention.

"Fighting alongside the Chitauri that day in your city, I found out that they were not working alone. The Chitauri had also secretly aligned themselves to an extremely dangerous and powerful being, without my knowledge. The Chitauri had planned to give the scepter I created to this being; so that he may overpower me and destroy your planet, not rule it as I had wished to. Since I was unable to procure your realm for rule, most all of the Chitauri army destroyed and the scepter in your precious Avengers' custody, I can promise you, he will be coming for the scepter himself." Taking his time, Loki conveys the seriousness of the situation.

"Who is this 'being' and why does he want to destroy our planet?" Darcy asks, nervousness crawling into her voice.

"His name is Thanos," Loki says, "And he will come to eradicate your planet, because he simply can." Loki has a faraway look in his eye as he tells Darcy how Thanos has no remorse for those lives he destroys, the level of destruction he can create, the pain he can inflict, almost as if recalling a memory.

"Guy sounds like a complete tool." Darcy flippantly suggests.

"Yes, well that may be true, but I assure you, he is not to be trifled with and your infuriating group of heroes need to be made aware of this." Forcing himself back to the present, Loki stands up from his position on the bed and begins pacing in front of her bed, redirecting the conversation to convince Darcy that her friends need prepare for the worst.

"And why couldn't you have told them this? Thor at any rate." Darcy questions him.

"Unbiased party, remember?" Loki states, no longer pacing, he turns and leans forward pointing at Darcy.

"Right. Yeah, yeah. Got it." Waving him off, Darcy rolls her eyes at him in exasperation. "Okay. So the  _'big bad'_  is coming, how are we supposed to stop him if he's this all powerful being like you said?"

"The scepter."

Darcy's face turns into one of confusion, as she doesn't understand the meaning of his statement.

"Thanos is coming for the scepter. So if you were to destroy it, Thanos would not be able to wield its power and your Avengers may have the capabilities to possibly stop him, as they did me. You would at least have a better chance of surviving if the scepter can be destroyed." Loki explains to Darcy as he resumes his pacing, failing to mention key elements in his plan to have the scepter obliterated. Loki didn't  _completely_  lie to Darcy, Thanos will be coming for the scepter, and it's also possible he may choose to wreak havoc on their planet; he just happened to leave out the fact that he's going to be coming for him as well, and by destroying the scepter, Thanos will have no way to track Loki down and exact his revenge upon him for his subsequent failure. It's a win, win situation in Loki's opinion. He just left that little detail out of their discussion…

"And how do you expect me to convince my friends what you've said is true, when you've already gone ahead and oh, yeah –  _kidnapped_ me away from them?" Irritatingly responding to the gravity of what could happen, Darcy's sarcastic remarks hit her intended target; sliding off the bed and walking up to Loki, she bravely pokes him in the chest with her index finger.

"Kidnapping implies that I've held you against your will. I'm sure you can figure something out to convince your friends of my honorable intentions." Loki leans back slightly, holding his hand over his heart, feigning a hurt expression across his face. Stepping forward into Darcy's personal space, Loki looms over her, their foreheads nearly touching as he whispers to her, a hand reaches up to caress the side of her cheek, dragging two fingers down from temple to chin. "I know you're more than just a pretty face Miss Lewis. Until we meet again." A mischievous twinkle enters his eye and Loki takes a step back from Darcy, a sinfully delicious smirk stretching his lips; then he winks at her and disappears in a flash of green light leaving Darcy alone in her apartment.

Still staring at the spot where Loki once stood, Darcy is shocked at Loki's bold behavior, and it's placed her emotions in a jumbled mess. ' _What the hell was that?'_  After several moments of pause, Darcy manages to pull herself out of her stupor, and looks around her now empty bedroom, realization dawning that Loki has left her by herself to return to Stark Tower.

"Well, crap."

**OOOOO**

**OOOOO**


	4. Chapter 4

**OOOOO**

**OOOOO**

"Regency Shield Insurance, where may I direct your call?" A pleasant receptionist states over the phone. Darcy is standing outside on a payphone, in the rain getting drenched, with no umbrella, still dressed in her work clothes, consisting of grey dress slacks and a v-neck red blouse along with her favorite high heeled shoes, which were a birthday present from Pepper. They're her most beloved pair too. Darcy is cursing herself right now for her choice in footwear; she likes to show off and dress it up at the office every so often with a nice pair of heels, but today of all days, Loki had to snatch her out of thin air and then abandon her with no phone, no money and one hell of a walk to this little hole-in-the-wall café. She's swearing at Loki for disappearing and making her trudge through this downpour. ' _Manipulative little shit.'_ Darcy thinks, except there's nothing little about him.

"Claims, extension 920," Darcy spits out, just getting more agitated every minute she has to stand outside in the cold, wet weather and wait for her phone call to be processed. He had to do this on a Thursday. Off  _all_  the days he could have chosen to make his official appearance into her life, he just had to fuck up her Thursday night.  _'If I see him anytime soon, I'm going to give that infuriating god a piece of my mind for this. I don't care how devilishly good-looking he is. Right now, the only thing I want to do to him is give him a swift kick in his Asgardian ass.'_

"Claims Department, please state your name and case number," another sickening sweet female voice floats over the line.

"Darcy Lewis. Case number, 74433, Initiative Code A," Darcy rattles off, rolling her eyes in the process. Honestly, Darcy loves her job, but she could deal without the standard protocol bullshit. Holding the phone between her ear and shoulder Darcy wipes the hair out of her face, which is matted against her wet skin; she taps her foot impatiently waiting for her authorization.

"Verified. Please hold for the next available representative to take your call," an automated tone replies.

A series of clicks take place until she's listening to the tale tell sound of annoying elevator music filtering through the phone.  _'Could they not hurry this up? Jesus. This is not exactly the safest place to be…..but they do have the best damn coffee ever. I'm so glad I'm not severely injured or dying, that would be a complete bummer to make it all this way and then die an embarrassingly 'normal' death out on the street.'_

"Miss Lewis, good to hear you're still in one piece. Are you compromised?" Agent Coulson answers in his formal SHIELD tone, though you can tell there's a hint of underlining concern. If you haven't worked for Phil Coulson, you would just assume he's more or less bored with you most of the time. Darcy's learned the differences in his inflections since she started working for him in a full time capacity.

"I'm just peachy boss-man. Be even better when I'm out of the rain and dry again," Darcy says. Tilting her head back, she stares up at the sky after hearing a bunch of thunder nearby. 10:1 Darcy puts her money on Thor being the reason for the recent shift in weather.

"Of course Miss Lewis, someone will be en route to you immediately. We'll also have to debrief you as soon as you return back safely. I'm assuming Loki is no longer with you?" Phil asks her.

"Yeah, tall, dark and suave left me high and dry in a blink of an eye. We're cool though. I'm gonna hang up now and uh, get some heat in my body now if that's okay," Darcy starts to hop up and down a bit, rubbing her hands together, trying to get the circulation back into her extremities.

"We've got your location. Sit tight and someone will be there shortly," Phil relays and then promptly hangs up.

Darcy places the phone back into its cradle and shuffles her way inside the small café with her arms wrapped around her midsection. Warmth is the first sensation to hit her, and then the aroma of stomach achingly delicious coffee waifs against her nose. There are only a few patrons in the coffee shop. It was just by happenstance that Darcy stumbled upon this place. It was one of the first places she remembers finding one day when she was apartment hunting. With limited funds, just having moved to New York with Jane, she wandered around the city and found the café when she noticed a sign that said, "We may not be Avengers, but we can save your morning." That was all the curiosity Darcy needed to step inside and taste the most blessed coffee ever. And Darcy can make a mean cup of coffee mind you, spending all those nights and early mornings searching for ways to unlock the mysteries of the universe. Yeah, those were the days, back in New Mexico. It seems like forever ago that she was just your normal, broke college student, looking to find meaning in their dull life. And applying to an internship halfway across the states seemed like a perfect way to do that. Darcy just didn't know she would end up getting more than she bargained for. If someone had told her 7 months ago, that a Norse god would drop out of the sky, a super-secret agency would come and take her stuff, turn around - employ her, and then said Norse god's brother decide to throw a fit and try to take over the world, she would have laughed in your face and asked where she could get whatever it is you're on. How wrong she was, but Darcy wouldn't change any of it. Well, except maybe for that part in the middle where Loki felt the need to subjugate the world. Yeah, she'd like a redo on that part. She's starting to think perhaps Loki does as well from the way he told his story.

"Hey Ernie, light of my life, how about helping a poor, sore, college student out?" Darcy breaks from her musings and walks all the way up to the counter of the shop. SHIELD told Darcy since she's young enough, to use the story of being a college transfer student as her public cover. That's fine by her; she's a terrible liar as it is. One less thing to worry about.

"Lewis, as I live and breathe, you ever heard of an umbrella darling?" Ernie says, laughing at Darcy once he catches her entire appearance from behind the counter.

"Ha. Ha. Yes, well, I was in a hurry for some of your homemade, cure all free coffee." Darcy leans up over the counter flashing one of her patented 'You can't deny me' Lewis smiles.

"Don't think I don't see you trying to sweet talk me, and not catch the word 'free' associated with your request." Ernie states, giving Darcy a sly smile from the side. Ernie is the owner of the café and a graduate student at NYU. He took a few years off before pursing his graduate degree, not wanting to venture out into the real world yet; so he's set up this café until he decides to commit full-time to finishing his degree. He's managed to find a soft spot for Darcy through all of her overzealous visits and early morning runs. "Alright. I'll put it on your tab, Lewis, and I will collect one day too, don't you forget that!" Reaching behind the counter, he pours Darcy a large serving of black coffee dropping two sugars into the mug, and then moves to place it in front of where Darcy is standing.

"My hero," she murmurs, taking the mug and bringing it up to her lips, Darcy inhales deeply. She closes her eyes as an orgasmic sigh leaves her mouth, taking in the aroma of the coffee. "Thanks Ernie, I really do owe you," Darcy perks up, shifting her weight back off the counter and makes her way to a booth near the window away from the other patrons in the shop.

"Here, take this! You look like a drowned rat…..and you're welcome!" Ernie shouts, stopping Darcy midway to throw her a white towel to dry off with.

Darcy catches the towel with ease in her free hand and beams at Ernie in return.

Setting the coffee mug down on the table, Darcy toes off her shoes and starts to dry herself off as best possible with the towel provided to her. Already starting to feel more human, Darcy stretches her toes after being in the confines of heels all day. They're gorgeous shoes but were not made for long distance walking in the rain. A moan of relief releases from her once she finishes curling and uncurling her feet. Tossing the towel into the booth she's next to, Darcy sits down, raising her legs to rest them on the other side as she grabs her drink and takes a tentative sip.  _'Heaven'_  Exhaling and laying her head back, Darcy can see it's finally stopped raining outside, but the distant sound of thunder can still be heard.  _'Thor's probably out searching for Loki.'_ Darcy imagines. Hell. She wouldn't be surprised if the whole team was out searching for him. What is she going to do about him? Setting down her cup and digging the heels of her palms into her eyes, Darcy finally lets the last several hours settle in. Loki dragged her halfway across town to tell her about this new threat, but was he her telling the truth? This is what she needs to figure out. Going back to remember the look on his face when he was describing Thanos, Darcy could tell he was nervous, frightened even. Yes. Loki was telling her the truth, but would anyone believe her? His methods of communication may be wack, but at the end of it all, he did leave her unharmed, even as menacing as he came off at the beginning of their meeting, but there was softness to him too, as if he knew this isn't the person he wanted to be. She was so confused. Loki could be scary-angry one minute and then absolutely stunning the next.  _'Ugh. I really don't need to start feeling like this.'_  But he was different, and Darcy liked that about him, she could see there was more to him than his quest for revenge, and Darcy wanted to know more about who he really was underneath all those layers.

Lifting her head up and tapping her fingers on the table, Darcy comes to a decision. She has to tell her boss and the Avengers about the potential threat to Earth. It was in her job description to keep everyone informed of potential threats….. _'Was that why Loki took her?'_  The thought quickly flits through her mind, but files it away for later purposes, right now she needs to contemplate how she's going to convince SHIELD and her friends that Loki, in fact, may mean well this time around. And then there's the whole deal with needing to destroy the scepter. Crap. She knows SHIELD isn't going to go for that. Lost in her inner debate, she doesn't notice few people in the shop getting up and pointing to something located outside one of the other windows adjacent to her.

A large crash echoes through the coffee shop, rousing Darcy from her thoughts, and at the same time, all three panel windows shatter startling the customers. Incoherent shouts reverberate off the walls, and Darcy covers her face with her hands as shards of glass whip past her from heavy gusts of wind. Darting out of her booth, Darcy holds one arm above her face to protect herself, while glancing around the café to see what the cause of the disruption is. Looking at the now, destroyed entrance, Darcy can make out the familiar sheen of red and gold armor into the night.  _'Son of a –, of course it would be Tony.'_

"Darcy, you in here doll?" Iron Man says, flipping up his faceplate and stepping into the broken shop. Glancing around, his scrunches his nose up in disgust at the dainty café. Destruction already forgotten, there are yelps and cheers at the chance to see Tony Stark up close.

"Oh. My. God. Seriously Stark?" Darcy mutters, exasperated at the circumstances and the ruckus he's caused her favorite little place, she lowers her arm and marches up to him.

"Time to go sweetheart, you've got one hell of a story to tell when we get back," Tony says, giving Darcy a once over making sure she hasn't received any injuries while she had been taken by Loki. "That bastard didn't hurt you did he?"

"No! I'm fine. If I do have any injuries, it's because of the stunt you just pulled. You couldn't have come and retrieved me with, oh I don't know – a car?" Darcy cries out, waving her arms wildly around the room. Sighing for what seems to be the umpteenth time, Darcy breathes in deeply through her nose trying to calm herself. She knows they're taking extra precautions to keep her safe, but sometimes, it really sucks. "I'm sorry, I didn't really mean that. It's been a long day, and I just want to change out of these clothes, crawl into bed and deal with everything tomorrow."

"My café!" Ernie shrieks, causing Tony and Darcy to turn and witness the horror on his face.

"Sorry Erns. I know this looks bad, but uh – this dude's going to pay for your remodel. Promise," Darcy comments to Ernie, jutting a thumb in Iron Man's direction.

"Yeah, sure, chump change with as dinky as –" Tony mutters, but is promptly cut off when Darcy steps to his side and slaps a hand over his mouth, giving him a 'Shut the fuck up' look.

Ernie shifts his eyes to Darcy, shaking his head in shock, accepting her offer for Tony to pay for all the damage he's done. Patrons of the shop are now snapping photos left and right at Iron Man causing Tony to put on his self-obsessed smirk, giving them a thumbs up in his armored gloves, to appease the small crowd.

"Right. Fun time's over. Let's go." Tony says, flipping his faceplate back down; he grabs Darcy by the arm and pulls her out of the tiny café. "You ready sweetheart?" It's going to be a wild ride. Don't sweat it," placing a firm arm around Darcy's waist, he starts to hover off the ground with his boot thrusters.

"Whoa. What!?" Darcy exclaims, throwing her arms around Tony's iron clad neck, gripping on for dear life. "No-no, I like the ground, I'm not even keen on flying in general! Is there no other way? Please!" Looking around frantically, Darcy ducks her head as far into Iron Man's metal shoulder as possible, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Nope." Tony replies and lifts off into the air.

"Arg. Wait, my shoes!" Darcy shouts over the wind and noise of Tony's thrusters hurling them into the air at what seems like break-neck speeds to her. Not hearing a reply from Tony, as they fly higher into the atmosphere, Darcy realizes she's going to have to abandon them.  _'My shoes…..'_  Darcy thinks sadly; keeping her eyes closed, she attempts to think happier thoughts.

**OOOOO**

**OOOOO**

Darcy got down on her hands and knees and kissed the cement ground once she landed on the Stark Tower helipad. She never wants to experience that again…Ever.

"Lady Darcy!" Thor boisterously shouts, helping her up off the ground only to crush her into an Asgardian bear hug. "I am so glad you are safe and well."

"Thanks big guy, but can I get some oxygen soon? You're kind of cutting off my airways," Darcy wheezes out, her arms strapped to her sides as Thor has encompassed her body in his arms.

After being released from Thor, Darcy looks to the side to see Tony being dismantled from his Iron Man suit. She also takes notice that Agent Coulson is patiently waiting for her at the other side of the glass door inside Stark's top floor residence. Walking side by side, Thor and Darcy head inside to see the ever present SHIELD agent.

"Boss-man! Working late again?" Darcy sarcastically remarks, noting that it's only Tony, Thor and herself in the tower.

"It's good to see you as well Miss Lewis," Phil replies, motioning with his hands to Darcy where a change of clothes awaits her.

"Thank you so much," she says all in one breathe, grabbing the clothes and making her way to Tony's guest bathroom. "Hey, by the way, where is everyone?" Darcy turns to face the three.

"Out searching the city for you and Loki, but now they've been called in. They'll be back soon, and after we receive your account of what happened, we'll send a team back out, hopefully with new information on Loki's whereabouts and a homing beacon that Dr. Banner and Mr. Stark are attempting to put together." Agent Coulson calmly states.

"Oh, right. His bracelet, thingy. Yeah, good luck with that." Darcy says nodding, heading into the bathroom and shutting the door behind her.

A few minutes later Darcy exits the bathroom wearing a pair of jeans and an un-tucked logoed SHIELD t-shirt, feeling a bit more relaxed and normal; she makes her way to the plethora of couches Tony has circling the center of his rec. room.

"Where are Tony and Phil?" Darcy asks Thor, plopping down on the opposite end of the couch where Thor is sitting; she notices Tony and Phil are strangely absent.  _'What could have possibly happened in 5 minutes?'_

"Dr. Banner got a hit on one of the energy read outs from Loki's bracelet. He called them down to confirm whether or not it could be my brother," Thor says, turning to Darcy in earnest. "You must know Darcy, how deeply sorry I am for my brother's behavior. I am only glad that you were unharmed during your time with him. I fear Loki may be lost to myself and my family, no matter how much I may wish otherwise…"

"Hang in there, Thor. I think your brother may come around sooner or later; like all things, it just takes time," Darcy softly speaks to him, getting up and settling closer to Thor, she pats his arm comfortingly. "Don't get me wrong, he's still got major anger management issues galore, but after spending a few hours with him this evening, I think there's still hope for him. Don't give up."

"You may be the only person who has shown faith in my brother, Darcy. I thank you for that." Thor says, a display of gratitude etched on his face.

"Yeah, well – what can I say? I'm a sucker for lost causes, and he really didn't seem all that bad once he was done with the threatening act. He's just someone who's misunderstood," she shrugs, looking down to pick at the nail polish that has frayed at her fingertips.

"Threaten? Darcy, I know the 'Son of Coul' asked us to wait, but what did my brother want?"

"Well, he –"

"Prince Thor, I've been alerted to tell you that your presence is being requested by Agent Coulson. You are to head to the lab station, where Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner are working on locating your brother," Jarvis responds, preventing Darcy from explaining what Loki wanted with her.

"I must go and see what it is they require of me. I shall let Jane and Erik know of your safe keeping on my way." Thor says, getting up and striding confidently to the elevator, leaving Darcy alone with her thoughts once again.

"JARVIS?" Darcy tilts her head back, curiously asking for the AI.

"Yes, Miss Lewis?"

"What floor is Loki's holding cell on?" Darcy questions him, standing up from her place on the couch and walking towards the elevator that Thor just took moments ago.

"Prince Loki's containment room is located 5 floors below us on the 45th floor," responds the disembodied British voice.

' _So that's where Loki is being held.'_  She knew he was being kept under lock and key somewhere in the tower until the Helicarrier has been declared safe for use again. All key personnel involved with the Avengers Initiative were pretty much required to move into Stark Tower until otherwise noted including her boss, since Tony has an abundance of space. It was the perfect place to keep Loki, between Tony's technology and Thor close by.

"Thanks," Darcy replies, pushing the button on the elevator. Raising her head up to see what floor the elevator is currently on, she decides it'll just be faster to take the stairs. Walking to the end of the hallway to the stairwell exit, she opens the door and flies down the stairs with a burst of energy until she reaches her destination, a hunch scratching at the back of her brain. Carefully pushing open the stairwell door to the level that Loki is staying on, Darcy cautiously pokes her head out to see if there are any agents standing guard. Confident that there aren't any around, Darcy slips halfway down the hall and turns right where a large open space has been transformed into a holding cell, a flat panel of glass stretches from one end of the room to the other. Darcy can see somewhere near the middle the crease in the glass where a sliding door functions and a finger recognition panel is located next to what she assumes is the opening. Leisurely walking down the length of the cell, Darcy's hand trails across the glass as she strolls around the perimeter of the room, observing the small knick knacks and furniture in his cell.

"Miss me already?"

Whipping around in the direction of the familiar voice, Darcy finds herself staring back at Loki, who is reclining comfortably against his couch on the other end of the room behind the glass; an arm propped up on top, his head resting on his hand while his legs are crossed at the ankle, stretched out in front of him.

"Ass," Darcy forcefully says, stalking over to the portion of the glass where Loki is seated. "You just up and leave me in my apartment with no way to contact anyone and no way to travel back on my own!" Darcy utters, slapping both hands on the glass in front of her.

"It seemed like a good idea to help belie the assumption that I had kidnapped you. So, leaving you to your own devices would show good faith on my behalf that I did not indeed, hold you against your will," Loki states, amusement littering his voice. "Of course, if you wanted more of my company all you had to do was simply ask Miss Lewis," smirking devilishly, Loki gracefully rises from his position on the couch to stand in front of Darcy on his side of the glass, mindful of the cameras watching him.

"Loki," Darcy draws out in a breathy, low mannered voice, shifting her eyes away from his intense gaze.

"Oh, I do believe I enjoy hearing how my name falls from your lips," whispering to Darcy, Loki leans against the glass with his arm above his head, green eyes shining brightly against the harsh light of the room.

Darting her eyes up to Loki, Darcy can feel her face turning red at his implication.  _'What is he doing to me? Pull it together Lewis!'_  Turning slightly, she tries to hide her flush; reaching up to block her face from his view, she drapes a curtain of her hair over her shoulder. Before Darcy has the chance to gather her wits, the sound of rushing footsteps greet her ears; facing the part of the room she entered, she can hear the footfalls getting closer to her. She's been had, or they've figured out Loki is back in his cell acting as if nothing ever happened earlier today.

"Darcy!" A concerned, panicked voice yells.

Rounding the corner, into the opening of the large room, Darcy can see Clint Barton jogging towards her. Decked out in all his gear, Clint looks as if he literally just arrived from being away on a mission for days, and Darcy knows he's only be out in the city. His hair is all askew, and he's got his bow strapped to his Kevlar armor. Rushing over to her, Clint gives one weary glance to Loki then quickly back to Darcy; she doesn't have time to react as Clint grabs her and pulls her into his strong arms, hugging her as if she almost died. Shocked by his outpour of emotion, Darcy isn't sure what to do except hug him back, repeating to him she's fine, that's she okay. Still riled up, Clint pulls back just enough to look at Darcy closely for injuries of any kind; moving and gripping her upper arms at different places to feel that she's real and safe, his eyes stray back to her face.

"Jesus Christ Darcy. We thought-"Clint's voice wells up with emotion, placing one hand against her cheek, he looks absolutely lost.

"Clint." Darcy breaths, "I'm fine. I got back safely, really, no harm no foul," she places her hand over the one holding her face trying to convey to Barton that's she's really okay. Looking at him, Darcy has never seen him so emotional, over anything. It's really weirding her out, she doesn't know how to handle this version of Hawkeye.

Clint is breathing hard, and Darcy can tell he's worried, just by glancing at his posture and the fear induced grip he has on her is enough to alert Darcy that apparently she's freaked him out. Darcy takes a step back to separate the distance between them, but Clint stops her from retreating, brow furrowing in an array of emotion. Clint takes a calming breath loosening his hold on Darcy, but instead of releasing her, he brings her forward, closing the gap between them to kiss Darcy.

Darcy at one point or another had imagined what it would be like to be kissed by Clint Barton. Who wouldn't, with those arms of his and adorable dimples? Taken by surprise again, Darcy is wishing this were all a dream; she's completely unprepared for this kind of response from Clint. They've been friends since her beginning days at SHIELD covering for Agent Coulson; so Darcy is at a loss, feeling his lips against hers. This is her friend, Hawkeye, Avenger and marksman extraordinaire, he's supposed to be making out with Natasha, not kissing her. She never expected a kiss from him would be like this. Placing her hands against his chest, Darcy gently pushes Clint away from her; her eyes wide, looking at him with an expression of confusion.  _'Did he ever give her the vibe that he wanted anything more than friendship between them?'_  Darcy thinks back to all the Thursdays they spent together. Did she even want more between them?

Clint must notice the expression on her face, because he finally releases her and steps away from Darcy, running a hand through his hair nervously. For the next few moments, they both just stare at each other in silence.  _'Awkward'_ Darcy mentally hears herself suggest.

A discreet cough is heard from behind Barton, and Darcy looks up to see Agent Coulson standing a short distance away from them.

"Agent Barton, Miss Lewis; if you're done, we really need to get back upstairs to discuss matters. The rest of the team has checked in and are waiting for us," Agent Coulson says, never missing a beat, he addresses the two while sweeping his eyes to look over at Loki and assess his sudden reappearance. "Care to explain why you kidnapped my assistant, and then returned to the cell you can obvious leave at anytime?" Phil plainly asks Loki, trying to understand his recent actions and willingness to come back.

"I simply needed to speak with Miss Lewis alone without your perverbial dogs sniffing around. Nothing more. And I have no need to go gallivanting around this pitiful planet of yours," Loki responds with a sneer, moving away from the glass slightly.

"I find that hard to believe, but seeing as you've left Miss Lewis unharmed; I've been given direction to leave you be for now, but should you feel the need to disappear again, just know, we won't respond so kindly next time around," A veiled threat hanging in the air as Phil replies in kind. He looks away satisfied once he gauges that Loki isn't meaning to go anywhere again.

Following Coulson's line of sight, Darcy turns to face Loki, forgetting momentarily that he was witness to what happened after Clint entered the room. She sees Loki move his head her direction zeroing in on Agent Barton and herself. A fumbled mess of expressions flash over Loki's features as he dismisses Phil's threat and instead, sends a deathly glare in their direction, but what really Darcy focuses on is the look of disbelief and quite rage sweeping across his face; standing rigid, jaw clenched and hands balled up into tight fists. His reaction confuses Darcy, not understanding the source of his anger towards them. He looks like he desperately wants to break something. She doesn't get his mood swings at all. Surely, her scene with Clint didn't cause him to react that way. Did Loki find two mortals kissing so disgusting that it practically pained him? After all, he had been the one flirting with her moments ago…

Not able to take anymore of the emotional rollercoaster she's on, Darcy nods to her boss and makes her way out of the containment room; she glances at Barton briefly in passing seeing him follow her in stride.  _'Wow, awesome. Can I please have some more embarrassing moments to add to my growing list? I must have broken some sort of record for awkward conversations today'._

**OOOOO**

**OOOOO**

"Darcy, I –"Clint begins, as Darcy walks into the open elevator, leaning against the wall, hands resting on top of the railing.

"Stop. Let's not do this right now, I've been kidnapped, soaked to the bone, lost my favorite pair of shoes, flown through the air at heights I will never be comfortable with, and so many other things I don't even want to elaborate on right now. So, can it wait? Because, I'm about to drop dead from exhaustion," Darcy sighs frustratingly out to Barton in the most polite voice she can muster at this stage. Banging her head on the back of the elevator wall, she instantly regrets being so snippy with him.  _'He's just concerned about your well-being.'_  Her thoughts scurry through her brain. She sees Agent Coulson headed in their direction; so she makes what she has to say quick, before he hops into the elevator with them, "Listen, I'm sorry Clint. I'm just a wreck right now. Just give me some time, okay? I appreciate your concern; I do, but I'm overwhelmed at the moment."

"Yeah, no Darcy – sure I get it." Clint rumbles back, sending an affectionate and comforting smile her way.

Once Agent Coulson steps into the elevator, it's a silent ride up to Stark's rec. room, where Darcy assumes the meeting is going to take place, being so late in the evening now. She hopes it's quick and painless; her brain is way passed fried, bordering on overcooked.

The elevator door dings, alerting their arrival; the three of them step out of the elevator and into Stark's residence floor where there is simultaneous chatter coming from every single person in the room. Darcy quietly makes her way over to Natasha and unceremoniously flops down onto the couch; she receives a cautious, but relieved look from the assassin taking in her appearance. Darcy notices pretty much everyone is present, including Nick Fury who's wearing his 'Fix this shit' face, which Darcy believes is his every day look, but who is she to judge – he could be happy as a lark knowing Loki is back in his little home away from home. Doubtful, but hey, you never know with him.

Everyone stops talking realizing Darcy and her two counterparts have also entered the room. There's a hoopla of 'Thank God you're okay Darcy, and 'What did Loki want with you'? from her friends. Director Fury ends up silencing everyone one with a raise of his hand.

"Miss Lewis, first off, let me say on behalf of the team and myself, we are all glad you were left unharmed in this incident." Fury says, motioning to everyone in the room to take a seat. "Now, please explain to us, what Loki wanted with you, and why he left you all by yourself after going through the trouble of kidnapping you?"

This was it. The conversation Darcy had been dreading since Loki left her earlier; puffing out her cheeks, she looks around the room to formulate exactly how she's going to word her story. "Well, you've got the first part already; Loki snatched me out of my room right after I had finished up work for the day. I was going to change and meet Barton and Tasha downstairs in the lobby when Loki magically showed up at my place."

Fury waves his hand expectantly at Darcy to continue on.

"So, uh – he ended up taking me to my old apartment. He said he wanted to get better acquainted with me." Darcy continues, recalling the words Loki had said to her. Probably a poor choice of words she realizes, once she sees several pairs of eyebrows shoot straight up into their hairlines and out of the corner of her eye she sees Captain America immediately tense up with the wrong implication. "Er-no, no! Not like that. Sheesh. It wasn't like that, at all. He just wanted to inform me of an impending threat to our planet. Oh, and I guess to say hello, nice to meet you. Guy has serious issues with proper forms of communication."

"So, let me get this straight. Loki kidnaps you, tells you about a threat to the Earth, and then promptly disappears? Are you sure he didn't harm you or try to use any magic on you, let me see your eyes." Tony says, disbelief coloring his voice, he walks over to Darcy to check her eyes, but she slaps his hands away from her.

"Seriously!? You think I'm under some sort of hypnotized brainwashing? Loki could only do that with use of the scepter, which we know has been locked up since the portal was closed. Besides, he told me, against his better judgment that your bracelet does work! He said that he can't use his magic on others, but can produce magic on himself like teleporting and changing clothes." Darcy passionately answers, frustrated that none of her friends are choosing to believe what she's telling them. She conveniently leaves out the part where Loki can also create doubles, and he's been lurking around the tower for the past month or two; she's not ready to go into that yet. She just wants this over and done with already.

"Ha! So, it does work! I knew it. Well, since Loki has decided to return to his cell, Bruce and I will have to see if we can't change and increase the frequency of the bracelet to stop Loki from being able to teleport out of his containment unit in the future." Tony prattles off, slapping his hands together gleefully.

"Darcy, can you tell us what my brother told you about this threat he mentioned?" Thor says, shifting uneasily from foot to foot, arms crossed in front of his broad chest.

"Yeah, sure. Loki was telling me about this douchebag named Thanos who had made some secret alliance with the Chitauri without his knowledge. He said that he was uber powerful and stuff, not to be messed with; that he was going to basically incinerate our planet because he feels like it. You know him?" Darcy looks directly at Thor, trying to distinguish whether Loki was telling her the full truth about this Thanos guy to back up his story.

"I know of Thanos, and what my brother has said is true, he is not to be trifled with. He was banished from the 9 realms long before my time and my father's. If what Loki is saying is true, your planet is in dire need of protection." Thor's grim expression says it all. This guy is bad news.

"How can we be sure Loki is telling us the truth? I'm sorry Thor, but I don't trust him." Fury exclaims, shifting to glare at Thor out of his one good eye. An abrupt response of agreement comes from all the Avengers, Thor excluded.

"Hey! Come on, whatever happened to second chances!? How's Loki ever supposed to prove himself if you constantly shut him out? He chose me to relay this information to you guys as an unbiased party because we had never met before today. I mean is it or is it not my job to keep you all aware of potential threats to our planet. Well, I think this friggin' qualifies! I made a judgment call based upon all the facts Loki has given me, and yes – he shouldn't have teleported my ass away from this place, but he needed to talk to someone who would be willing to hear him out without ignoring him completely. He even let me walk away unharmed to show that he wasn't holding me against his will. And, I for one believe him!" Darcy fires off, all the evening's activities wearing on her nerves; she's had just about enough of everyone's bullshit.

The room quiets with Darcy's outburst, the team taking under consideration her lengthy tirade and defense of Loki and his actions towards her.

"She's right." Natasha quietly pipes in, raising her head to look at her teammates. "As much as I despise Loki, we should treat this as a real threat, with everything we've been through, who's to say he has anything to lose by lying to us at this point. Loki may have an ulterior motive, but he also returned back to his cell immediately after releasing Darcy, I say it's worth taking under advisement."

Darcy rolls her head towards Natasha, mouthing silent thanks to her.

"You forget. The last time Loki willingly less us take him into custody was the day he split us up as a team, severely injured Agent Coulson, and nearly destroyed the Helicarrier. So what's to say, he isn't trying the same trick twice, in some twisted plan of his." Captain Rogers offers his opinion on the matter.

"This is what's going to happen. I still don't trust Loki, but we will keep a close watch on him in the meantime. Stark, I want Loki under control; you get that bracelet functioning to prevent him from leaving his containment cell, unless released under an agent's care or one of our team members' is present." Fury dictates to the group. "Miss Lewis, since Loki has chosen you to be the mediator of his supposed turning of a new leaf, I am charging you with gaining as much knowledge from Loki about when we can expect Thanos and any other important information you deem worthy of relaying to us."

Darcy sees the group nodding in correlation to Fury's direction, but there is one final piece of her story to tell.

"Director Fury, there is one last part Loki mentioned about Thanos coming to Earth." Darcy says, mentally bracing herself for the outpour of shouts she's about to receive, seeing all eyes are placed on her once again. "Loki may have also mentioned in passing that Thanos will be coming for the scepter….that it needs to be destroyed…." She trails off, waiting for shit to hit the fan.

And just like clockwork, an outburst of shouts comes from the group again. Rubbing a hand over her face, Darcy wonders if she were to fall asleep if anyone would notice. This is getting ridiculous.

"Absolutely, not!"

"Why would Thanos want the scepter anyways? Loki himself said he created it."

"He's lying, he wants the scepter destroyed so Thor can't drag his ass back to Asgard to face daddy."

"Enough!" Fury shouts, effectively shutting up everyone's bickering. "Miss Lewis, I'm sorry, but the scepter stays with us. There's no plausible reason why Thanos would want or need the scepter. I know you want us to give him the benefit of the doubt, but Loki is clearly lying to you on that account. We will not destroy it."

"Director Fury, if my brother told Darcy that Thanos wants the scepter and it needs to be destroyed to prevent a catastrophe upon your people, we should hear him out." Thor interjects, rising in defense to his brother's and Darcy's side.

"I'll make that call when I deem fit." Fury calls back to Thor, gazing unhappily at the Prince for rebuking his decision about the scepter.

"But –"Darcy chimes in, only to be thwarted by Agent Coulson this time.

"Miss Lewis, you've had a long day, and we gratefully thank you for your account of the day's activity regarding Loki. I'll inform you of your next assignment over the following 24 hours on how you are to handle Loki. Until then, why don't you head back down to your room and get some rest? We'll handle it from here." Coulson says.

Irritated and dismayed at the team's false belief of the information Loki provided her and essentially being scolded by her superiors; Darcy's had enough. Getting up in a huff, she walks over to Thor squeezing is arm lightly in support and makes her way to the elevator doors waiting to take her back to the residence level.

Darcy nearly has to drag herself into her room once she gets out of the elevator, running her hands against the wall for support; she feels the tiredness weigh down upon her like an anvil to the head. Once inside her apartment, Darcy beelines it to her bedroom, not stopping for any reason whatsoever, she manages to sit down on her bed, not even bothering to change, and turns her head to look at her clock; 11:56PM. Her thoughts stray briefly to Clint and the kiss he laid on her earlier this evening. She doesn't know how to process the apparent shift in his feelings; all she knows is when he kissed her it felt wrong. Like they crossed a line that shouldn't have been crossed, even if Darcy's imagination gets away from her every once in a while; she realizes now that isn't the type of relationship she wants from him – it would just screw everything up between them. God, she hopes she can salvage that relationship. Her mind wanders to Loki, remembering the intense expression of emotion on his face afterward what happened between her and Clint. Leaning forward to place her hands on her knees, head down, Darcy shoves her hands into her hair frustrated.  _'Why do I even care what Loki thinks?_ Ever since Loki has decided to show up in her life, all of her thoughts ultimately come back to him. ' _I haven't even known him a day and he's driving me crazy._   _Ugh, what a night this has turned out to be.'_

Darcy recounts her debriefing, and the way Loki was treated. She's infuriated that no one is on her side with the exception of Thor and possibly Natasha, mostly Thor though. How the hell did Loki think this was going to go? She should have known she wasn't going to be able to convince them otherwise of Loki's intentions, and what really pissed her off is that they alluded to the fact Loki may have done something to her to coerce her story. What. The. Actual. Fuck. Sure, Loki may have fucked up a lot of things, but he seemed to be making a genuine effort to help them, and she'll be damned if he doesn't get his chance. Now, the only question is, how is she going to get that scepter to Loki without getting caught in the process of helping him?

Too tired to peel back the comforter on her bed, Darcy gives a sigh, lying back with the intention of turning off all higher brain functions. As soon as her head hits the pillow, Darcy falls fast asleep; her dreams leaving her haunted of someone with bright green eyes and devilish smirk.

**OOOOO**

**OOOOO**


	5. Chapter 5

**OOOOO**

**OOOOO**

Stark Tower is surprisingly quiet in the early morning after the previous night's adventures. Walking down the corridors of the building, Darcy wishes she could have just stayed in bed, already missing the warmth and comforts of her comforter. It was a place to forget that yesterday ever happened, and that what's been placed upon her isn't constantly looming, threatening to have her running far away, to the ends of the Earth. But after how her co-workers, her own friends dismissed her claims in defense of Loki, there's no way in hell she's going to abandon him. Darcy knows all too well what it's like to be overlooked and discarded without regard, and they were treating him in the exact same manner. Loki deserves to prove himself; she's going to figure out a way to get that scepter to him. On top of which, she can't believe SHIELD's blatant ignorance of what could truly happen if Thanos does come knocking on their door. She happens to like her planet just fine, without the threat of some crazy ass baddie coming to take over and destroy her home, thank you very much!

Checking her watch again as she starts to hurry in a brisker pace, she knows she's going to be late, but hopefully her boss will understand. Today Darcy outfitted herself in a pair of black jeans with flats and a crème colored blouse that had dark green trimmings at the end of each sleeve and one circular stripe at the bottom, just enough to accent it. Her choice of shirt selection had nothing to do with the vivid green coloring of a certain god's bright emerald eyes or the fact that his cape almost matches the blouse's shade perfectly. Not at all…. Sweeping around the corner, Darcy opens up a conference room door where her makeshift office is. Usually Darcy does most of her computer work here; it's only a few floors beneath the main R&D lab where Jane, Erik and occasionally Tony do all of their researching and analyzing. It allows Darcy to pop in and update them on any news she's received from SHIELD or newly encrypted data, but she really uses the time visiting them to make sure they're taking breaks and eating. She's pretty sure that they've caught on to her scheming by now, but none of them have ever said anything. It's a silent understanding they've all come to appreciate from her, and it gives her an excuse to catch up with Jane while she's up in the lab. Entering through the clear glass doors of the conference room, Darcy makes her way to her station at the other end of the room where she notices her boss is standing patiently, as if he knew she was going to be late. If Darcy had to guess, she's betting on JARVIS ratting her out, but what can you do when the AI pretty much has eyes and ears on everyone in the building? Darcy also takes note that her boss is also holding a Starbucks coffee. Phil Coulson doesn't do Starbucks; he told her this on her first day of work. He drinks black tea and nothing else, so this only meant one thing, either she's about to receive a shit-load of paperwork today, or her boss is going to attempt to bribe her into doing something she really doesn't want to do….and damn him if he didn't know her weakness for that caffeinated beverage.

"Morning Coulson, I see you're breaking all your rules. Is the apocalypse coming already?" Darcy greets far more chirpily than she feels at the moment.

"Miss Lewis. Good morning to you as well, please sit," Coulson addresses to her, motioning for her to sit down. "I trust you slept alright?" Placing the cup in front of her, he takes a seat directly across from her.

"Sure thing boss-man. You know last night didn't even faze me." Darcy replies, taking the proffered seat and rapping her nails on the desk. Only yesterday seemed to have turned her entire universe in one moment. Sleep only came from the exhaustion of the day's events. She still hasn't really had time to divest herself of all the activity. There's still a flurry of emotions she has yet to grasp. Her mind may have shut down for a short while, but her body is still wired. She still has the feeling of energy vibrating through her veins; Darcy's almost afraid what would happen if she dared to drink the sweet smelling coffee that's been placed in front of her.

"I'm glad to hear. Listen Darcy, I know last night was rough, and it may have seemed we were harsh with you, but you have to understand SHIELD's position and know that believe it or not, we're also looking out for your well-being as well. Loki –"

"Stop," Darcy throws up a hand and sighs. "I get that you guys care in your own warped way. I do, and I appreciate that, but you're totally dismissing the fact that Loki didn't do anything harmful; he just wanted to talk to me. A person, who by your own job description, is supposed to inform you and the team of any potential threats, and you threw it back in my face! I mean can you honestly tell me that if Loki had asked to speak to me in the building, you would have let him? And what's with the coffee? Don't think I don't know what you're up to." Finishing her tirade, Darcy slumps in her chair; placing an elbow on the table as she runs a hand through her freshly straightened hair.

"All right Miss Lewis. A point well made, but the decision remains, and there's no changing it. We will monitor Loki from his cell, and Tony is changing the frequency on his bracelet as we speak to prevent him from leaving the building. As for your coffee, think of it as a token of appreciation that my assistant is back in one piece." Coulson says, his stoic features in place not giving anything away.

"Thanks, boss." After several moments of pause, Darcy relents; she can tell he's being sincere with her. Eyes shifting back and forth between Agent Coulson and the coffee, Darcy carefully reaches out to grab cup in front her, but before she has the coffee within her grasp, Agent Coulson snatches it away.

"There's not a lot for you to work on today, but there is one thing that Fury has requested me to ask of you." Agent Coulson says, an almost apologetic look on his face, for taking the blessedly smelling coffee out of her reach.

Dammit. She knew it! Here it comes.  _Fucking Fury_. What could he possibly want from her now?

"Et tu, Brute?" Darcy feigns a pained expression seeing her coffee being held against its will.

"Fury would like you to interrogate Loki and get more information out of him, specifically about Thanos. We need to know all possible outcomes from all sides, whether Loki is being truthful or not will be decided upon review of what information he is willing to provide."

Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. This is not exactly what she wanted to deal with this morning. She is completely unprepared to talk to Loki. And interrogate? They underestimate her skills of persuasion; surely this is more up Natasha's alley. Darcy was hoping for some time to sort her own thoughts and feelings about the information Loki gave her yesterday, but maybe she can use this situation to her advantage. If she can get down to speak with him alone without any guards; then maybe she can figure out a way to let him know she's willing to help him out, even if everyone else isn't.

"So, why choose me? Why not Thor or Natasha? Thor has known Loki the longest, and Natasha was able to get information out of him before." Darcy answers back, seeing if she can use some reverse psychology on Phil and act as if she doesn't want to see Loki.

"We are working under the assumption that Loki is still reluctant to divulge sensitive information to Thor, and we are certain if we sent Natasha in he wouldn't fall for the same trick twice. Plus, he's already chosen you as the one person out of us all to give any information to of his own free will; so you are the most logical choice in this situation. I assure you Miss Lewis, your safety is our number one priority, and you will be monitored closely by myself, Agent Barton and JARVIS." Coulson says as placating as possible. Shifting in his chair, he starts to move the coffee forward a bit as a peace offering.

"I really don't get a say in the matter do I?" Darcy puffs out, crossing her arms against her chest. Trying to put on a show of disposition, she hopes her act works. She would never admit this out loud, but having JARVIS monitor her isn't exactly what she would call comforting in case Loki has one of his mood swings and her plan goes awry.

Coulson doesn't respond to her, he just gives this Mona Lisa smile and pushes the Starbucks cup all the way over to her. "I'll give you a few minutes to get some questions together, but then you'll need to head down. We'd like this over with as soon as you do," he says, standing and making his way out the conference room door.

Inhaling and exhaling a deep breath after Agent Coulson exits the office, Darcy swivels around aimlessly in her chair contemplating her next plan of action until she felt dizzy, an immature act, but it made herself feel better. How is she going to be able to talk to Loki without SHIELD listening in on her conversation? Sure, she can throw a few interrogation questions at him, with the hopes Loki will answer, but then he'll just assume that everyone is against him, including her. This could possibly be the only chance she'll get at speaking with Loki and without any agents or Avengers with her. Her only option is to attempt to get at Loki while they are letting her on her own to get information from him. Her friends are smart; if she had a member of the team with her, they'd pick up on her lying in a heartbeat. The room Loki is in obviously has a heavy amount of security cameras and motion sensors; they're outside of his glass panels and there are some on the inside….

Halting her spinning, Darcy suddenly gets an idea. It's a long shot, but it might work. Standing abruptly, Darcy leans sideways grabbing the edge of the table where she stands, "Whoa. Head rush." Striding towards the door, she heads down to the elevator. Darcy doesn't know a great deal about the technology of Loki's bracelet, but if some of Loki's magic is still available, then maybe, maybe she can get him to disrupt the security feed long enough for them to talk without fear of being caught. Though, from what Agent Coulson said earlier about Tony changing his frequency again, she can only hope it doesn't prevent him from using any magic at all. Otherwise, this will be a complete bust.

**OOOOO**

**OOOOO**

' _Be cool. Be cool. Don't panic. You can do this.'_  Darcy repeats her mantra over and over as she's walking towards the familiar opening of Loki's containment room. As she left the elevator, she only had to present her identification to the two agents stationed at the reception area of the floor. Darcy was actually surprised after Loki's disappearance that more agents weren't placed on duty, but I suppose when you can poof yourself out of anywhere, it's kind of just a waste.

Stopping in front of the entrance of the room, Darcy takes one more look back towards the way she came in hesitation. Bracing herself, she takes a deep breath, straightens her shoulders and lifts her chin as she heads into the cell. Glancing up, she cautiously and discreetly looks up at the cameras located around in the room. Through the long panel of glass, she sees Loki sitting in the center of the room, legs propped up on another chair while an arm rests on the table; he's reading a book, Darcy tries to see what he's reading but can't see the cover of the book from where's she's standing. She carefully moves to the side of the door located in the center and places her thumb on the identification pad. Her breathing speeds up a bit and nerves settle in now as she's about to try and jump through her first hoop. She hopes they let her in; talking to him from the outside, Darcy won't be able to convey what she needs him to do. As her thumb is being scanned, Darcy glances back and forth between Loki and the device; she notices Loki stiffen slightly as the reader is emitting a series of beeps. After what seems like a lifetime, the scanner glows green and the door to Loki's cell opens. Releasing a breath she didn't know she was holding, Darcy steps up and into his room; the door behind her closing automatically making a loud locking sound.  _'We are at the point of no return Darce.'_

"Hey." Darcy softly speaks, glancing around the room until her gaze finally lands on the back of his head; she takes a quiet step forward unsure with her surroundings.

She sees Loki straighten in his chair, dropping his legs and closing his book in one graceful motion. Whipping his head around, Darcy can see the surprise on his face with her arrival in his cell and unguarded.

"I must say, this is quite the pleasant surprise. Good morning Miss Lewis. To what to I owe the pleasure of your visit?" Loki says, apprehension and amusement coloring his voice; he turns more fully towards Darcy, resting another arm over the back of his chair.

"Well, I thought since you were  _so_  kind to pay me a visit; I felt I owed you the same courtesy – minus the 'poofing' of course." Darcy quips back, waving a hand in front of him as she makes her way closer to him.

"Hmmm….an interesting answer, though not the correct one. Why don't you tell me the real reason you're here?" Dropping all pretense, Loki stretches his long legs from their position at the table before standing to walk around and over to Darcy.

Quickly trying to think of a reasoning to give Loki, she fails to come up with a decent answer and decides to settle for the truth while slowly backing away towards one of the walls in the corner of his room.

"Okay, you got me. I definitely suck at the lying gig. I was sent here to ask you about Thanos." Darcy answers back, stealing a glance at a camera at the opposite end of Loki's room. She reaches back with her right arm and rests her hand against the wall, absently rubbing her fingers up and down the wiring running up and down the length of the wall trying to play off a nervous motion. "SHIELD was kind of hoping you'd be willing to give me some more information about when you think Thanos is coming; so they can assess the threat level."

"Really? I find that hard to believe after how adamantly they were all against what I told you. I'm inclined to believe that whatever I say they will take as a fallacy. And you're  _helping_  them. Apparently I made a poor choice in estimating your value and capabilities." Loki sneers. Tilting his head and narrowing his eyes at Darcy, his posture becomes slightly more menacing than a moment ago.

"Whoa, hey - listen  _Mr. Eavesdropper_  – you should also know, I defended your sorry ass; so don't take it out on me. I mean I don't want to say 'I told you so', but  _I totally told you so, dude._ I'm just here to do my job; you really think I'd be here  _willingly_ , wanting to have a one on one with you?" Darcy slaps her hand lightly against the wall, tapping her fingers against the wires as she fires back at him, her voice growing louder as she emphasizes the last set of words, giving a pointed look to her hand and then back to Loki, in the hopes he'll catch her drift.

The outburst from Darcy gives Loki a moment of pause. Resting his hip against the table his eyes roam over her form and his brow knits together in slight confusion, raising his gaze up to Darcy's face; she can see him looking back and forth between her face and her hand. His face lights up ever so slowly and a delicate, but small smile graces his features.

"Yes, it was foolish of me to think otherwise, my apologies." Loki smirks at her all the while walking over to her position at the wall.

As Loki stops, nearly inches away from Darcy, he looms over her stretching an arm behind her to place his hand on top of hers and gently taps his fingers against hers where she's touching the wires that connect to the security feeds. After several moments of staring at each other, Loki removes his hand from the wall and brings Darcy's hand with him. He holds her hand lightly as he turns and silently strolls back to the table he was previously occupying.

"You are right. You are horrid at lying, but more cunning than you give yourself credit for." Loki says, now smirking in amusement at her. Leading Darcy into one of his chairs, Loki releases his hold on her and sits opposite of her.

"Did you just give me a compliment?" Darcy replies, clearly surprised by his admission, she looks down at the hand Loki had been holding and rubs at it nervously; her hand tingling from where he touched her. Darcy's unsure of whether her hand is full of sensation because of the small amount of energy she felt when Loki placed his hand on hers or for other reasons entirely. Looking up at Loki, she makes another pointed look to a camera behind him, "Does that mean…?" Darcy trails off as she brings her eyes back to his face.

"Yes, Darcy. You conveyed your words well enough, and we are free to speak without consequence for the moment." Loki says, his eyes dancing in mirth and a genuine smile appearing on his face.

Relief sweeps through Darcy's body and she allows herself to relax and let all the tension leave her body with the knowledge that her instincts were right. ' _Darcy 1,000; SHIELD Zero.'_ Darcy muses.

"Look, I know you've done a shitload of bad things over the past few months, and I'm pretty sure you can figure out that SHIELD could give a rat's ass whether you're telling the truth or not regarding Thanos; they just want big bro to take you back to Asgard. But, given the circumstances, I want to help because I really do think you're being honest this time around." Darcy says, finally getting the chance to speak her mind about the events that have taken place.

"You are willing to go against your friends and help me, after everything I've done – you're going against your better judgment to trust me? My, my, Miss Lewis you continue to surprise me, why is that I wonder?" Loki's gaze darkens as he shifts forward assessing Darcy in a new light.

"I know you're the God of Lies, but when you were telling me about Thanos, I just knew for a fact that you were telling the truth, I could see it in your eyes. That dude is bad news, and I totally get why you want to destroy the scepter." Darcy admits to him. Shifting back in her seat slightly, she ducks her head under Loki's heated gaze. "And…and I'm willing to help you get the scepter because…well because I know what it's like to be disregarded and left to fend for yourself, and you deserve a chance to redeem yourself in the eyes of those you wronged, or whatever….," Darcy finishes lamely, flopping a hand out in Loki's direction, waving it up and down. Darcy can feel Loki's eyes boring into her head. She lifts her head to meet his gaze and sees something that catches her off guard, compassion and understanding.  _'Who would have thought the God of Mischief and I would have something in common'_ , Darcy thinks to herself.

"You are not what I expected Darcy Lewis." Loki softly speaks to her, outstretching a hand to one of hers, he flips her hand over and starts to draw lazy patterns into her palm.

"Yea-yeah? Well, that makes two of us." Stuttering slightly, Darcy glances down to watch Loki play with her hand lightly, causing a whole new set of feelings to flood into her. "So, uhm, I've been trying to figure out how to get the scepter to you, but I really haven't had time to think up a decent plan. I'm kind of flying by the seat of my pants here, and after today, I doubt I'll be able to see you again without guards and what exactly are my boss and Hawkeye looking at right now that's keeping everyone from yanking me out of here with our current topic of conversation?" Darcy quickly rambles on in nervousness, a blush forming on her face from Loki's continued attention on her extremity.

She notices upon the mention of Clint's name he halts his ministrations on her palm. She can see him thinking about her questions in quiet contemplation.

"Fear not Darcy, my magic may be slight, but it is powerful enough to provide the illusion that I am simply ignoring you for the time being. As for how you are to obtain the scepter, I'm not completely sure. I cannot for obvious reasons…," Loki pauses momentarily to tap his bracelet. "But, what I do know is that the power of the bracelet wanes, I can slowly start the build of the previous levels of magic I had prior to our meeting yesterday; therefore, there is a chance I could duplicate myself in the cell and teleport myself a short distance within the building, but that would require the distraction of your Agent Barton." Loki says looking away, releasing her hand and sitting back in his chair; distain is heard in his voice as he mentions Hawkeye.

"He's not my – …never mind." Darcy mutters trailing off slightly, rubbing her palms over her face while thinking over Loki's offer.

' _Okay, so he thinks he could duplicate himself allowing the cameras to believe he's still in his cell, and he might be able to teleport somewhere in the building, but even if she could get her hands on the scepter – where would she go? And how on Earth would Clint be able to be distracted long enough to…Wait! That's it.'_

"I might have a plan." Darcy says, lowering her hands away from her face. She sees Loki raise an eyebrow, asking her to continue on. "So, I need to get the scepter to a place you can teleport, and you need Clint to be distracted long enough to duplicate yourself and teleport to a safe location where no one will see you…," taking a breath, Darcy surges forward with her explanation, "I'll find a way to convince Clint that I've been asked to retrieve the scepter from the vault and take it down to the lab where Jane and Erik are working; so they can run some comparable tests between the tesseract and the energy source in the scepter. You, during this time will teleport yourself to my bedroom-" Darcy stops after seeing a devious and sinful smirk appear on his ridiculously handsome face.

"Your bedroom? Really Miss Lewis, I was unaware you had other intentions towards me. That could be fun." Loki speaks as he absently rubs a hand against his chest, laughter flitting through his voice and his eyes lighting up with glee.

"Do, you want my help or not?" Darcy's voice pitches high, embarrassed, she turns her head away from Loki in attempt to hide the heat flooding her cheeks.

"Of course, yes – you were saying."

"There aren't any cameras in the bedrooms; so you would be safe from being caught. I'll figure out a way to get away from Clint, and I'll bring the scepter to you, where you can do whatever it is you need to do with it to stop Thanos from coming here." Darcy finishes exasperated and unnerved. She knows she's going to be on the receiving end of the 'Shittest Friend' award, by using her connection to Clint to help out Loki, but she figures it's her only shot to do what's necessary. But Darcy is also secretly hoping she can smooth things over with Clint and figure out their feelings in the process. If anything, she hopes they can return to the friendship they once had, but with what she's about to do, she has a hard time believing that may be possible…She must be insane for agreeing to this!

"Your plan may be of use, though I am not fond of Agent Barton being the one to escort you to the scepter." Loki methodically replies, dropping his hands to his sides, Darcy can see him clenching and unclenching his fists again.

' _What is his deal with Barton?'_ Darcy contemplates, watching his features morph into irritation and his jaw tighten.

"Loki, dude, there is no other way – he has the clearance needed to get into the vault and I'm distracting him for you. I thought you'd be overjoyed." Darcy says, standing up and poking Loki in the shoulder playfully.

Silence stretched on and Darcy could sense an inner battle tugging at Loki, though she has no idea the reason. Watching him turn towards her, she sees his brow drawn in confusion and worry, but ultimately acceptance as he also stands, grabbing her fingers to stop her from further provoking him.

"Would you be able to go about your plan shortly?" Loki asks of her, dropping her hand as if he had been burnt.

"Uh, - yeah sure. I have the rest of the day to do whatever, so I can go find Clint now if you're ready?" Darcy says stunned, glancing at her hand, she can't help but feel slightly hurt at his reaction to her playful encounter with him, wondering what caused such a reaction.

"Good, because we're about to have company. Aim for the next hour for us to meet. Shall we each play a part now?" Loki grabs Darcy and twists her around so she's trapped between the table and Loki. His posture is menacing, but his eyes have a more mischievous gleam to them.

Darcy can't see around Loki, but she can hear the tale tell signs of boots echoing against the ground and someone standing at the door going through the identification process. Loki's grip on her wrists appears forceful, but is shockingly tender. The playful look in his eye grows as does the smirk on his lips, his body moving forward until they are flush against one another.

"Miss Lewis, I do believe this will be well worth the reaction this causes." Loki whispers down to her and not giving Darcy time to respond, he leans down to kiss her.

An incoherent noise of surprise makes it way out of the back of Darcy's throat, shock filling her, she's unable to comprehend that Loki is kissing her. Loki, God of Mischief, is kissing  _her_. Darcy can hear distant yelling in the background, but all she can focus on are Loki's lips sliding, crashing against hers in fervor. Something snaps inside of her, and she responds back in turn, not caring for the moment that they have an audience. And then as suddenly as it started, it was over – feeling Loki being ripped away from her, Darcy hears shouting inside the holding cell from various people. Opening her eyes, Darcy gasps and sags against the table taking stock of her new predicament, shock and awe still flooding her system. Looking up straight ahead, she can see Barton being restrained by two agents, a look of anger etched across his face that Darcy has never seen so forcefully displayed from him before. Glancing down to her left, she can see Loki has been pinned to the ground by two more agents, holding his hands up in mock surrender with a look of amusement all the while. Catching his gaze, their eyes lock and his devilish smirk deepens with the uproar he knew his action would cause.  _'He knew Clint was coming and wanted to rile him up on purpose.'_ Darcy muses, glancing back at Barton. Getting up and walking forward to where Clint is still struggling, she steps in front of him and places her hands on his shoulders hoping to calm him.

"Clint, calm down. It's alright. Loki was out of line, but I'm okay." Darcy speaks quietly to Clint trying to placate him.

"You bastard. You keep your damn hands off her!" Clint shouts back at Loki, looking past Darcy completely, Clint is seething with anger.

"Okay, boys – let's uh, move this out of the cell shall we?" Darcy acknowledges the two agents that are gripping Barton and motions to them to take him out of Loki's containment unit, following in suit, Darcy shares one last look at Loki, shaking her head in disapproval, but the hint of a smile manages to form on her lips anyways. Loki looks positively gleeful as if he's accomplished some major task, she's starting to get the feeling that kiss was meant to be seen as staking a claim. Darcy's not exactly sure how she feels about that, as amazing a kiss as it was. Her body is still humming with approval, or that may just be the energy coursing through her body. Either way, she's totally  _fucked._  Stepping down out of the room, Darcy notices the agents have released Clint and Agent Coulson has now entered the room, speaking in hushed whispers with Hawkeye. Coulson notices her walking over to them and he says something to Barton she can't hear before he's stepping back from him to speak with her.

"Miss Lewis, that was quite a display in there." Agent Coulson says to her.

"Never a dull moment with me around." Darcy quips back at him, noticing Clint has not so stealthily edged himself closer to the two of them now.

"Yes, well, I think it's safe to assume Loki has been playing you and us the whole time. I am sorry we weren't there sooner." Phil regretfully replies.

Darcy can hear a huff of indignation from Clint.

"You are free to go about your day Darcy; I will inform Director Fury of the results of your visit." Agent Coulson says, he pats her shoulder affectionately and turns to leave the room but not before giving what Darcy assumes to be, a meaningful glance at Clint.

"Yo – Boss-man?" Darcy shouts at Phil before he can fully leave the room; she sees him stop and turn to giving her a questioning stare. "What exactly are you going to tell Director Fury what happened while I was in the cell?" Darcy wants to, as unsuspectingly as possible, find out just what they were viewing while she and Loki were having their secret meeting. She prays it all goes as planned.

"Just that Loki has failed to provide us with any information he claimed to have had and then took advantage of a member of our team. If you're worried about what happened Miss Lewis, I'll be discreet about it." Phil says, a slight smile appearing on his face before continuing down the corridor, the other agents now following in tow as it seems Loki has been left to his own devices again, which just leaves her with Barton.

' _Hoo-boy, here we go….phase two time.'_

**OOOOO**

**OOOOO**

A sense of déjà vu comes over Darcy.

Clint's looking at her again like the world is about to end. His face is contorted in grief as if he blames himself for not being able to stop Loki from attacking her. Well, that's what he sees; Darcy has an entirely different viewpoint. Guilt is already scratching at the back of her brain, knowing what she has to do next will be difficult, but will ultimately save them all. This is about the time Darcy believes she's about to make career suicide, but she's not going to back down after coming this far. She just hopes when SHIELD finds out they don't throw her in a prison for the rest of her life, or simply kill her for what she's about to embark upon.

"Aww, come on Clint – you know this isn't your fault. I'm a little shaken up, but all is right with the world right now. I promise." Darcy says, trying to play down the incident and get him to lighten up a bit, she bumps his shoulder lightly with hers and grasps his upper arm to swivel him around to the exit.

"Darce -, it's just twice now he's gotten to you! I can't believe this happened again. I should have shot him with my arrow when I had the chance all those months ago." Barton exclaims, roaming his eyes over Darcy for any outlying injuries that she may not have mentioned.

"Seriously, Clint, don't beat yourself up over this, okay?" Darcy stops them both in the hallway to embrace Clint in a friendly hug. Barton stiffens infinitesimally but quickly returns the sentiment in full force, crushing her to him.

"I just want you to be safe Darcy. A world without you in it would be pretty damn sad." Clint whispers, breathing her in and squeezing tightly before reluctantly releasing her from his grasp.

Walking to the elevator she looks over to Clint and sees him fighting himself from saying something, but refrains and punches the down button on the elevator. Crossing her arms in front of her and leaning against the wall, Darcy taps her foot impatiently on the ground, eyes flitting over to Clint she starts to get an idea in her head.

"Hey, you have a few minutes to spare?" Darcy nonchalantly says, halting the tapping of her foot, she doesn't want to come off as nervous to him, which she totally is right now.

"I have some time, why?"

"I was just hoping you could take me down to the vault, Jane sent a message to my phone a short while ago asking if I could bring the scepter down to her and Erik so they could run some tests on it for whatever it is their currently working on. I always pop down there close to lunch time anyways, so I told her I would. Do you mind at all?" Darcy replied, attempting to refrain from rambling in all one long-winded breathe.  _'Please don't say no, please don't say no.'_  Darcy mentally prays to herself, hoping Clint will agree to her request in his already guilt ridden mood. God she feels like a terrible person for doing this to him, she hopes it all works out for everyone. She cares about Clint so much, loves him even, but Darcy realizes not as a lover. She would hate to lose his friendship over this, but Darcy realizes this is a risk she is willing to make right now in order to help save everyone and restore Thor's faith in his brother.

"I suppose so, how long are they going to need it? It shouldn't be out in the open for long periods of time. If I had my way, I'd toss the fucking thing out into the atmosphere. I hate that scepter." Clint vehemently replies, but gives her a quizzical look.

Darcy knows of all people, Clint could care less what happens to the scepter. He probably wants it destroyed more than anyone here given his previous introduction to it. Darcy steps into the elevator once the doors open and shrugs at Clint not knowing the answer to his previous inquiry; she hits the floor level they need to travel to as Barton follows in suit after her.

As the elevator descends, Clint starts rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, staring at the floor in a nervous manner. Darcy wants to smirk at his obvious discomfort, not because she's trying to make him feel that way, but because this is completely un-Hawkeye-like behavior. It's almost an endearing mannerism coming from him.

"Listen Darcy, about what happened last night between us…..I know you're dealing with a lot right now, and I should have said something a lot sooner, but last night freaked me out. I never felt the way I did the moment I found out Loki took you. I had never felt so helpless, so lost; it was if all my training left my system – gone. " Clint says sincerely glancing up to look at Darcy in the eye; pausing to collect the outpour of emotion coming from him, after a few moments, he finally continues "And I promised myself, that if we got you back safely, I would say something, so I'm saying it Darce, I feel something more than the friendship that we have, and I'm not asking for any type commitment or even an answer today, but all I ask is if could you think about the prospect of more, of an us?" Barton finishes, placing his hands on either side of Darcy, pulling her closer to convey the seriousness of his speech.

Mouth opening and closing, all Darcy can do is gape at the man in front of her. For the first time, Darcy is speechless; she doesn't think in all the time she's known Clint to ever be so candid and honest with his feelings. She must have really thrown him for a loop to cause this kind of emotional tirade out of him. Darcy knows what's in her heart, and she refuses to lead Clint on, but if she were to turn him down now in his emotional state; she's afraid he'll be unrecoverable and even their friendship won't survive.

"Clint, I-I don't know if there's a future for us together, as something more, but I promise I'll at least think about everything you've said." Darcy responds looking up into his grey-blue eyes. Darcy takes his hand and gives it a brief squeeze; she knows it's the least she can do for him; she owes him that much, to really think about their future.

Clint's brow draws together as he looks down at Darcy in their small confines; searching her eyes, he slowly nods his head in acceptance of her response.

The elevator door dings, alerting them to their arrival at their destination and Darcy is immediately brought back to the gravity of her situation. Clint places a hand lightly on her back, motioning for her to exit first. They walk in silence together towards a set of metal doors at the end of the hallway, as they reach the edge of the vault, Clint motions to Darcy with his hand to wait while he gives his authorization. She can see to the right of the door's entrance there is a retinal scanner and key pad next to each other. Darcy watches apprehensively, absently picking at her nails as Clint bends over to allow himself to be scanned. Hearing the beep from the computer generated scanner, Barton quickly punches in a six digit code before hearing the low vibrating pull of the metal doors swing open. Clint steps back and motions with his head to move forward. Darcy can tell he's in complete Hawkeye mode right now; she's glad they got their conversation out of the way in the elevator; she doesn't think she'd be able to handle it out in front of the vault. Uneasiness starts to creep into Darcy's system as she makes her way inside. She can see the scepter placed on a stand in the back of the room where a table separates the artifact from all the monitoring equipment elsewhere. Darcy assumes the equipment is meant to keep track of energy levels and motion detection for unauthorized entrants, but she's never been down here – so she's just guessing at this point. Walking into the vault with Clint, she notices he's stopped at the edge of the entrance, not wanting to get any closer to the scepter than he has to. She can't blame him for that.

Looking back at Barton, she watches him as he leans on one of the vault's metal doors; he tips his head and gives a slight smile in reassurance, waving his hand at her to keep going. The vault is smaller than it appears from the outside. Glancing around quickly, Darcy can see in the dimly lit room that the walls look to be made of reinforced steel, as is the flooring. There are computers running schematics on one side of the room and the other has what appears to show signals of some sort, but it honestly looks like gibberish to Darcy. As she gets closer to the back of the room, Darcy can feel her skin start to itch, her body becoming even more energized by her proximity to the scepter. Making her way to stand in front of the item in question, she silently observes what everyone is so desperate to get their hands on. It certainly doesn't look like anything special, but Darcy knows just how powerful this thing can be when wielded. Darcy closes her eyes, a shiver running through her body as she remembers the video of Coulson's near death. Taking a shuddering breath, she opens her eyes to stare at the small blue-glowing gem emanating from the scepter. She can't take her eyes off it, locking her in place as if she were in a trance.

"Hey, Darce, come on. I don't want to be around that thing any longer than I have to." Clint says to her, his voice knocking her out of her reverie.

"Yeah! Sure thing, Clint." Darcy absently replies back. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she closes her eyes and opens them again with a renewed determination.

Reaching out with her left hand, she hesitantly grabs the scepter, lifting it up off its stand and bringing it in front of her to look at.  _'Huh, it's a lot lighter than she imagined.'_  Darcy thinks. She makes a swiping motion with the scepter, moving it between her hands.

"Alright, you've had your fun." Clint's amused voice floats over the noise of the running computers.

Looking over to Barton, Darcy grins at him and makes a spinning motion with the scepter causing it to turn a full 360 degrees before she catches it in her hand and jolts it back up to hold it in its place. As she pulls up on the scepter, her body becomes flooded with an indescribable feeling. It's the same energy that she felt from Loki yesterday; only this was 100 times more powerful of a pull. She can hear the scepter start to hum loudly as the energy from her body flows right into the brightly glowing gem. The force of energy is so strong she can't move, and her grip on the scepter has unconsciously tightened, a burning sensation is felt, floating up and through her body, causing Darcy to slam her eyes shut and cry out in pain. Swirls of blue pixilated light shoot out from the tip of the scepter and begin encircling Darcy, each rotation of energy quickening, glowing brighter and larger than the last. The vault is now howling with the sounds of wind whipping around her; Darcy can hear the faint echoes of Clint yelling from somewhere in the vault, but his voice is becoming more and more distant, the vibration of the energy is almost at a deafening level as Darcy tries to open her eyes, but all she can see and feel is energy, surrounding and overwhelming her senses everywhere.

And then, feeling the sensation of one final tug, Darcy was gone.

**OOOOO**

**OOOOO**


End file.
